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b'French astronomer Pierre Jules C\\xe9sar Janssen became the first person to observe helium, an element never before seen on Earth, on August 18th, 1868.\\xa0\\nJanssen had been observing a total solar eclipse in Guntur, India when he noticed a bright yellow line with a wavelength of 587.49 nanometers in the spectrum of the chromosphere of the Sun. He initially assumed the line to be sodium, but, upon further investigating his hunch that it might be a new element, concluded he had stumbled upon something hitherto unknown.\\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly try their damndest to explain how Spectroscopy works; reveal which scientist first detected the presence of helium on Earth; and query the French Academy of Sciences\\u2019 impartiality when it came to attributing the discovery\\u2026\\nFurther Reading:\\n\\n\\u2018How Scientists Discovered Helium, the First Alien Element, 150 Years Ago\\u2019 (Smithsonian Magazine, 2018): \\u200b\\u200bhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-scientists-discovered-helium-first-alien-element-1868-180970057/\\n\\n\\n\\u2018The High-Flying, Death-Defying Discovery of Helium\\u2019 (Science History Institute, 2021): https://sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-high-flying-death-defying-discovery-of-helium/\\n\\n\\n\\u2018Helium 101\\u2019 (National Geographic, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLUcO26Q7wE\\n\\n\\n\\n#Science #Discoveries #France #India #1800s\\nLove the show? Join\\xa0\\U0001f334CLUB RETROSPECTORS\\xa0\\U0001f334 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!\\nPlus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.\\nJoin now via\\xa0Apple Podcasts\\xa0or\\xa0Patreon.\\xa0Thanks!\\npodfollow.com/Retrospectors\\n\\xa0\\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.\\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.\\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices'