coronium

American  

[kuh-roh-nee-uhm] / kəˈroʊ ni əm /

noun

Astronomy.

1. a hypothetical element once thought to exist because certain spectral lines in the emission spectrum of the solar corona could not be identified by known elements. These lines were subsequently found to be emitted by certain highly ionized metals.

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Etymology

Origin of coronium

First recorded in 1885–90; coron(a) + -ium

Example Sentences

This line had never been seen before, and so it was assumed that this line was the result of a new element found in the corona, quickly named coronium.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

Three years ago Dr. Donald Howard Menzel of Harvard, unwilling to believe in "coronium," suggested that the spectrum lines supposedly caused by it might really come from excited atoms of oxygen.

From Time Magazine Archive

For a long time it was half-heartedly assumed that there might be a mysterious element called "coronium" in the corona.

From Time Magazine Archive

Some astronomers once thought these indicated a new element, "coronium."

From Time Magazine Archive

Several skilled observers failed to see it at all; but Young and Eastman succeeded in tracing the green "coronium" ray all round the sun, to a height estimated at 340,000 miles.

From A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century Fourth Edition by Clerke, Agnes M. (Agnes Mary)