Edmond Modeste Lescarbault, a French amateur astronomer,…

Edmond Modeste Lescarbault, a French amateur astronomer, claims to have noticed a planet closer to the Sun than Mercury (later named Vulcan) on March 26, 1859.

French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier, attempting to explain peculiarities of Mercury's orbit,had hypothesized that they are the result of another planet, which he had named "Vulcan".

A number of reputable investigators have become involved in the search for Vulcan, and despite occasional claimed observations, no such planet will ever be confirm

Peculiarities in Mercury's orbit have now been explained by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.