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Elements named after astronomical bodies

Several elements are named after celestial bodies. Helium was identified in the Sun's spectrum before being found on Earth and takes its name from helios (Greek for 'sun'). Uranium, neptunium and plutonium form a planetary trio that extends from the planet Uranus to the dwarf planet Pluto. Selenium (the Moon, selene), tellurium (the Earth, tellus), cerium (the dwarf planet Ceres) and palladium (the asteroid Pallas) round out the group.

Back to name origins

Name source

Mineral Astronomical body Mythology Person Place Properties

Language of origin

Greek Latin Russian English German Swedish Japanese Anglo-Saxon Spanish Norse Arabic
No. Symbol Element Original word Meaning Language Named by
2 He Helium helios Sun Greek Edward Frankland, Norman Lockyer (1868)
34 Se Selenium Selene Moon Greek
46 Pd Palladium Pallas Pallas (asteroid) Greek
52 Te Tellurium tellus Earth Latin Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1798)
58 Ce Cerium Ceres Ceres (dwarf planet) Latin Jöns Jacob Berzelius
80 Hg Mercury Mercurius Mercury (planet) Latin
92 U Uranium Uranus Uranus (planet) Latin
93 Np Neptunium Neptunus Neptune (planet) Latin
94 Pu Plutonium Pluto Pluto (planet) Latin