ELEMENTS NOT DETECTED IN STELLAR SPECTRA

The table which follows contains a list of elements which are absent, or of doubtful occurrence. The rare earths are omitted from the list.

The elements marked “doubtful” in the list are those for which coincidences with very faint solar lines occur.[354] Twelve out of the twenty-nine elements enumerated are halogens, inert gases, or metalloids, and it is significant that all the elements of these groups are absent, with the sole exception of helium.

At. No. Element Remark At. No. Element Remark
4BerylliumDoubtful53IodineAbsent
5BoronAbsent54XenonAbsent
9FluorineAbsent73TantalumDoubtful
10NeonAbsent74TungstenDoubtful
15PhosphorusAbsent76OsmiumDoubtful
17ChlorineAbsent77IridiumDoubtful
18ArgonAbsent78PlatinumDoubtful
32GermaniumDoubtful79GoldAbsent
33ArsenicAbsent80MercuryDoubtful
34SeleniumAbsent81ThalliumDoubtful
35BromineAbsent83BismuthDoubtful
36KryptonAbsent86RadonAbsent
49IndiumDoubtful90ThoriumDoubtful
51AntimonyAbsent92UraniumDoubtful
52TelluriumAbsent

FOOTNOTES:

[125] M. N. R. A. S., 83, 166, 1923; ibid., 84, 368, 1924.

[126] Ap. J., 61, 38, 1925.

[127] Wright, Lick Pub., 13, 242, 1918.

[128] A. Fowler, M. N. R. A. S., 80, 692, 1920.

[129] H. A., 91, 7, 1918.