Identifying helium was key in ushering in a new era in astronomy, namely astrophysics.
- On August 18, in 1868, helium was discovered by astronomers studying the sun during a total solar eclipse. The site of this discovery was none other than the Andhra coast. It is the only element to have been seen in the sun before it was known to exist on earth.
- Astronomers do this analysis routinely now, but the story of how this came about is intimately linked with an eclipse that was seen in Andhra Pradesh exactly 150 years ago..
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