r/FluorescentMinerals

Selenite crystal from the Red River Valley, North Dakota (same general geographical location as the similar duckbill selenite crystals and selenite ball-clusters from the Red River Spillway in Manitoba Canada) ~•~ These crystals have light champagne hue under natural light, bright blue-white fluorescence under longwave uv, and lingering greenish phosphorescent afterglow when the uv light is turned off (shown here at the end of the video) ~•~ i'll add a picture in the comments of this piece under natural light

I came across this test on the Rock Tumbling Hobby forum and thought the photos would be appreciated here. The original poster gave me permission to share the images and results.

Original RTH thread:
https://forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/110368/ultrafire

The setup included three different UltraFire UV lights:

• ZV PRO-254nm shortwave
• ZV PRO-310nm midwave
• RUV3 365nm longwave

What stood out to me was how differently the same collection reacted depending on the wavelength. Some pieces produced intense reds and greens under shortwave, while others showed much stronger orange or red reactions under midwave. The 365nm RUV3 appeared to be the most broadly useful across this particular collection, but the 254nm and 310nm lights revealed reactions that longwave alone would have missed.

The dark filter glass also makes a big visual difference. There is much less visible light spilling across the specimens, so the fluorescencelooks cleaner and the individual colors are easier to separate. That seems especially useful when trying to identify weaker reactions rather than only photographing the brightest pieces.

The gear photo shows all three lights and their black filters. The remaining images are some of the results from the original tester’s collection. The reds, greens and oranges in these shots are pretty wild, especially considering how ordinary some of the specimens look under normal light. A safety note for anyone unfamiliar with these wavelengths: 254nm shortwave UVC and 310nm midwave UVB require proper UV-blocking eye protection and covered skin. Never look into the emitters or expose people or pets to the beam.

Scapolite (var. Marialite) from Gooderham, Ontario.

🔦365nm

Google is unsure of this one it guessed from olivine to dragon blood.
This by far the most brilliant fluorescent mineral in my collection. Please help me out a name to it.

This is a piece I got from a large collection that was donated to a local rock shop without any labels. I posted a bunch of others a while ago, but didn't realize I never posted a few more.

I suspect dolomite because of its weird curves and weak reaction to dilute HCl. There are a few spots of calcite around the edges too that fluoresce an orange-red I'm used to for calcite, but the main mineral glows a more pinkish-red. It glows brilliantly under 310nm MW, underwhelming under LW, very weak under SW.

Any ideas on what this is? Maybe even where it could be from? All info is welcome.

A couple of recent posts ('Apple green' Willemite and a Dolomite that looks like 'Blancmange') inspired me to post my share of the 'cake' (literally) 🍰 🙄😉 Those two posts were making me hungry for apple blancmange!! So this is the best i could come up with.... My share of the cake.... Fluorite 'Cake' i polished, polishing this was a piece of cake 🤤 Hope you enjoy 👍

first picture taken under longwave uv, second picture taken under regular lamp light, third pic taken outside in sunlight .......... (trade name "Firefly Quartz")

Picture one under blacklight. Pic two in white light.

This was a thoughtful gift from my Mom from one of her travels.

Not the strongest fluorescence, but great hues and complex pattern. Also great in daylight.