Sir Norman Lockyer

Sir Norman Lockyer

1836-1920

He was the director of the solar physics observatory of the Royal College of Science at South Kensington in London, England. Lockyer proposed, from the observation by Janssen of a yellow line in the sun’s spectrum, that a new element had been detected. This element — helium — was not uncovered on earth until almost thirty years later.

Photographs of London, England (Oxford Street)
Photograph of London, England (spectral lines D1 and D2)