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(A) Mineral phosphorescence

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steve001

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Often I use my 405 nm laser to see if it induces phosphorescence. Many do such as gypsum, titanium dioxide all of which give off a pale white light for a short time after excitation. But yesterday I found a mineral of some type that glows orange briefly.
 
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Minerals like Sodalite and Tugtopite emit orange
when excited. Look to contact our member "Daguin"
about this. He is a rock hound for these things. He
sent me some samples several years ago.
HM
 
Hemlock_Mike said:
Minerals like Sodalite and Tugtopite emit orange
when excited. Look to contact our member "Daguin"
about this. He is a rock hound for these things. He
sent me some samples several years ago.
HM
Click to expand...
Thanks. I may via here post a photo of this rock and ask Daquin to maybe ID it.
 
I was a rock hound when I was a kid for many years. I used a black light back then to help identify some minerals that would fluoresce or phosphoresce. I passed on all my rocks and crystals to my daughter many years ago. But, she never shared my excitement of finding a new mineral or crystal and correctly identifying it.
 
Hemlock_Mike said:
Minerals like Sodalite and Tugtopite emit orange
when excited. Look to contact our member "Daguin"
about this. He is a rock hound for these things. He
sent me some samples several years ago.
HM
Click to expand...

paul1598419 said:
I was a rock hound when I was a kid for many years. I used a black light back then to help identify some minerals that would fluoresce or phosphoresce. I passed on all my rocks and crystals to my daughter many years ago. But, she never shared my excitement of finding a new mineral or crystal and correctly identifying it.
Click to expand...
The mineral in question it nearly opaque off white. I noticed when heated by the laser there is the smell of burnt gunpowder.
 
The blacklight I had for fluorescing minerals was UVC in the range of 100nm to 280nm. Many minerals that will fluoresce under UVC won't under UVA. like 400nm. The only thing that I can think of that might smell like gunpowder is KNO3. I don't know if any of its types in nature fluoresce, though.
 
I have some from Franklin New Jersey that glows oranged for a few seconds. I should film it.
Took this one of a piece of calcite last year.
 
I have a large piece of Icelandic Calcite, but it doesn't fluoresce at all. It is highly birefringent, though.
 
Maybe that's why I was so often disappointed when trying to get fluorite to fluoresce when I was into minerals as a kid. I always used UVA. I just assumed the blue I was supposed to see from fluorite was the same color as the UVA reflection, but I felt it should be more noticeable. I might go try it with UVC.

EDIT, maybe my UVC light is broken? I saw absolutely nothing out of 2/3 of my mineral collection (which is up for trade for a cool laser) with the UVC. I'm still on the fence about the fluorite with UVA, but saw a lot of action out of my other minerals with it. I have never seen a mineral charge up and hold a glow for a while. I've lost a few of my good fluorescent minerals, but I don't remember any giving off much light for any length of time after turning off the UVA. :can::scowl:
 
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Be careful with UVC. It is not to be looked at directly or let it illuminate your skin. It is the UV that doesn't get through the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere.
 
I try not to use it very long. I hope a 4w tube can't do much harm. I used a 1/8" thick piece of halogen UV filtering glass to look through.

I used to bleach serratia with it in an hour.
 
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As long as your specimens are on a table and the lamp is hooded so the light only strikes them you should be fine. Mine had a hood over the long tube so light wasn't going in all directions. Don't worry about the light reflected off of matte surfaces. It won't be enough to cause you harm. Just don't bare handle them while fluorescing as it is not good for your skin either.
 
Hi , i am living about 10 km away from the laacher see in germany , here i collected a mineral that is called hauyn .
Some of these blue stones which i found in a nephelin-leucit-tephritit near Mayen fluoriscence red in UV.
 
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paul1598419 said:
The blacklight I had for fluorescing minerals was UVC in the range of 100nm to 280nm. Many minerals that will fluoresce under UVC won't under UVA. like 400nm. The only thing that I can think of that might smell like gunpowder is KNO3. I don't know if any of its types in nature fluoresce, though.
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This is the mineral in question. Do you recognize it?
 

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paul1598419 said:
Interesting. It has been a long time since I was active in rock and mineral hunting. Do you know that hardness and Sp, Gravity of the specimen?
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No. I did a scratch test against quartz and it left a barely noticable mark on the specimen. As for its density there's nothing unusual. In other words it feels neither heavy or light for its size. Both can fit in the palm of your hand.
 
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