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Don’t Fly-Away, Helium Was Discovered in 1868
August 17, 2020 at 11:54 AM EDT
By WeatherBug Sr. Meteorologist, James West
Helium, the lighter-than-air gas that keep balloons afloat, was first discovered on this day in 1868.
The noble gas with an atomic number of 2, it has two protons and electrons each, is a stable, inert gas that is the second lightest and second most abundant element in the universe.
Helium was discovered during the August 18, 1868, solar eclipse in modern day India by French astronomer Pierre Janssen. He used a spectroscope to observer the sun’s chromosphere and in this spectrum, two bright yellow lines were observed. Norman Lockyer, also observing the two bright lines from England, proposed that the spectral lines were a new element yet to be discovered on Earth. He named it Helium after Helios, the Greek Titan of the Sun.
Helium is created in stars, including our sun, through the process of nuclear fusion, when two hydrogen atoms are fused together to create helium. The gas wasn’t discovered on Earth until 1895, when two Swedish chemists found the gas emanating from uranium ore. All helium found on Earth is created by radioactive decay.
The largest reserve of helium in the 20th century was found in the U.S. Great Plains in 1903 as a byproduct from natural gas drilling. Additional helium is extracted from natural gas in Algeria, Qatar, and Russia now, but the majority of the world’s helium still comes from the U.S. natural gas fields under the Great Plains.
Helium isn’t just used in birthday party balloons or as a party trick to make your voice squeak, it has numerous industrial uses. It is used for cooling superconducting magnets in medical MRI scanners and NMR spectrometers, scientific instruments that require low temperatures, certain types of arc welding, leak detection and a coolant for oxygen/hydrogen rocket fuel. It makes the Goodyear blimp float over your favorite sporting event.
Source: Wikipedia/ WeatherBug research
The noble gas with an atomic number of 2, it has two protons and electrons each, is a stable, inert gas that is the second lightest and second most abundant element in the universe.
Helium was discovered during the August 18, 1868, solar eclipse in modern day India by French astronomer Pierre Janssen. He used a spectroscope to observer the sun’s chromosphere and in this spectrum, two bright yellow lines were observed. Norman Lockyer, also observing the two bright lines from England, proposed that the spectral lines were a new element yet to be discovered on Earth. He named it Helium after Helios, the Greek Titan of the Sun.
Helium is created in stars, including our sun, through the process of nuclear fusion, when two hydrogen atoms are fused together to create helium. The gas wasn’t discovered on Earth until 1895, when two Swedish chemists found the gas emanating from uranium ore. All helium found on Earth is created by radioactive decay.
The largest reserve of helium in the 20th century was found in the U.S. Great Plains in 1903 as a byproduct from natural gas drilling. Additional helium is extracted from natural gas in Algeria, Qatar, and Russia now, but the majority of the world’s helium still comes from the U.S. natural gas fields under the Great Plains.
Helium isn’t just used in birthday party balloons or as a party trick to make your voice squeak, it has numerous industrial uses. It is used for cooling superconducting magnets in medical MRI scanners and NMR spectrometers, scientific instruments that require low temperatures, certain types of arc welding, leak detection and a coolant for oxygen/hydrogen rocket fuel. It makes the Goodyear blimp float over your favorite sporting event.
Source: Wikipedia/ WeatherBug research