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Vulcan (Astronomy astronomy the name)

in astronomy, astronomy, the name given to a planet, imaginary or real, between the Sun and Mercury. On March 26, 1859, M. Lescarbault, a village physician of Orgères, Eure-et-Loire, France, saw, or fancied that he saw, a small dark planet-like body pass across the sun's disk. In September the alleged discovery reached Leverrier, who eagerly grasped it, as he had previously come to the conclusion that the motions of Mercury were affected by the perturbation of VULGATE He a planet between it and the sun. even went so far as hypothetically to calculate the elements of the new planet. M. Liais stated that he was examining the sun at the very moment of M. Lescarbault's supposed discovery, and was certain that no dark body passed across the disk. The planet was called by anticipation Vulcan, but its existence still remains unconfirmed though M. Porro and M. Wolf of Zurich reported seeing its transit in 1876.