In 1868, the British astronomer and physicist Sir Norman Lockyer (founder of Nature) along with the French scientist Pierre Janssen discovered the gas Helium. observed bright yellow lines in the solar spectrum. As they never have been observed before on earth, he called the related chemical element Helium (as sun in greek in helios).

It is only 25 years later (in the 1890s) that Helium was detected on earth.

Norman Lockyer spectroscope