1 article for "Janssen, Pierre Jules Cesar"

(zhahn-sen')

(1824-1907) French astronomer.

In India, he observed a new line in the spectrum of the Sun during the total solar eclipse of 1868. He sent his findings to Lockyer, who was an acknowledged expert on solar spectra. Lockyer determined that the line belonged to a new element, not yet known on earth, which he named Helium. Nearly 40 years passed before Ramsay discovered this element on earth. Janssen and Lockyer independently developed methods to observe solar prominences at times other than solar eclipses.

See also:
♦ Lockyer, Sir Joseph Norman