1st extraterrestrial element

1st extraterrestrial element
08/18/1868 AD Observed

While observing the solar eclipse of 18 August 1868, at Guntur, Madras State (now in Andhra Pradesh), British India, he noticed bright lines in the spectrum of the chromosphere, showing that the chromosphere is gaseous. Present in the spectrum of the Sun, though not immediately noticed or commented upon, was a bright yellow line later measured to have a wavelength of 587.49 nm.

This was the first observation of this particular spectral line, and one possible source for it was an element not yet discovered on the earth. From the brightness of the spectral lines, Janssen realized that the chromospheric spectrum could be observed even without an eclipse, and he proceeded to do so.

This was the first time a chemical element was discovered on an extraterrestrial body that was unknown on earth. William Ramsay later isolated He in 1895.

The same result was found independently by British astronomer Norman Lockyer, and both Janssen's and Lockyer's communications were presented to the French Academy of Sciences on October 26, 1868.

Guntur

Lattitude: 16.3008° N
Longitude: 80.4428° E
Region: India

Modern Day India

Events in 1868 MORE