UV Lights and Fluorescent Minerals - a fun side hobby to metal detecting !

[KingTotsalot]

This is not about a fluorescent mineral, but still neat nonetheless as it still has to do with stuff that glows under UV light - Europium Glow Powder

Let me explain how I got the Europium Glow Powder, it was due to being able to get it at less than 30% of the normal price !

An occasional casual side hobby I have is astronomy, so I get free email newsletters mentioning current or upcoming astronomy stuff to watch for, full or partial solar of lunar eclipses, what planets are visible in the night sky, any upcoming meteor showers, ect. What was super duper amazing was the total solar eclipse we were able to see right from our own front yard back in August of 2017 it was a really neat WOW experience !

Anyhow, a company associated with the newsletters sent an email saying if I do a survey they will give me a $10.00 off any purchase coupon good at their "My Science Shop" online store.

Well, being a budget minded person I figured I'd see what neat item I might get for free or close to free with using the $10.00 off coupon, but wanting to get something I could also make use of I settled on their Europium Glow Powder - Green which they listed for $14.00 (+ shipping) and the description said: "This amazing phosphorescent powder can glow 10x brighter and 10x longer than traditional glow-in-the-dark materials."

The small jar is about 2 inches high and 1 inch wide, now as neat as it is I likely would not have paid $14, but with the $10 off coupon making it only $4 I figured why not

It is a powder that can be mixed with a clear medium to make an intense glow in the dark paint. I already have some glow in the dark paint that is already fairly good, so I think I might take a small amount of that paint and make it even more intense by adding some of that glow powder and use it to paint the clock hands on a wall clock to make it really easy to see at night. (and any other places I want an extra intense glow to see at night, like light switches for example)

Anyhow, here is the jar in natural light and also in the dark after charging it using a UV flashlight.
View attachment 500902View attachment 500903

KT had looked at that powder on eBay and wondered about it! His Majesty appreciates your explanation of what can be done with it! Thanks, GKL!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Besides the larger 2 fluorescent calcite and willemite pieces that were present in Danny's box, here are 2 more specimens that I like quite a bit!

They are strontianite clusters, one perched on calcite and the other perched on bladed barite, both from Caldwell Stone, Danville, KY. Each shows a natural light image and a 365nm LWUV image. What is most interesting is the cluster on the calcite fluoresces white, while the cluster on the barite fluoresces a nice bright pink! These pictures are at 10X magnification.

Anyway, KT wants to thank my friend for this box of goodies (more to come) and hopefully when he attends the KY CUSMMS Symposium later this year, I will be able to give him some interesting Arkansas Micros in exchange!

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[GKL]

KT had looked at that powder on eBay and wondered about it! His Majesty appreciates your explanation of what can be done with it! Thanks, GKL!

No problem KT !

If you compare the glow of the pure Europium powder to the Europium paint you can see the difference in brightness, because the paint has only a % of the powder, of course the higher the % the brighter the glow up to a point.

That is why I am going to add some of the powder to a small portion of the glow paint to make it even brighter.

You can see a pic of the Europium glow paint on the link below and compare that glow to the glow of the Europium glow powder I recently posted

(scroll down to the 2nd row of pics and see the middle pic of the Europium glow paint)

https://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?p=3327567#post3327567

Here is the link to the Europium glow powder post for comparison:

https://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?p=3398530#post3398530

Also, not sure if you read my other post where someone paid $9000 for one fluorescent specimen on ebay if you missed it it is at the link below

https://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?p=3398517#post3398517

Besides the larger 2 fluorescent calcite and willemite pieces that were present in Danny's box, here are 2 more specimens that I like quite a bit!

They are strontianite clusters, one perched on calcite and the other perched on bladed barite, both from Caldwell Stone, Danville, KY. Each shows a natural light image and a 365nm LWUV image. What is most interesting is the cluster on the calcite fluoresces white, while the cluster on the barite fluoresces a nice bright pink! These pictures are at 10X magnification.

Anyway, KT wants to thank my friend for this box of goodies (more to come) and hopefully when he attends the KY CUSMMS Symposium later this year, I will be able to give him some interesting Arkansas Micros in exchange!

Enjoy the pictures!

Those are some sharp looking specimens KT ..... literally ! looks like they could pierce your fingers and I agree that is a really nice glow under the UV ! It's nice you have colleagues in the mineral field that has access to such neat specimens !

 

[KingTotsalot]

No problem KT !

If you compare the glow of the pure Europium powder to the Europium paint you can see the difference in brightness, because the paint has only a % of the powder, of course the higher the % the brighter the glow up to a point.

That is why I am going to add some of the powder to a small portion of the glow paint to make it even brighter.

You can see a pic of the Europium glow paint on the link below and compare that glow to the glow of the Europium glow powder I recently posted

(scroll down to the 2nd row of pics and see the middle pic of the Europium glow paint)

https://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?p=3327567#post3327567

Here is the link to the Europium glow powder post for comparison:

https://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?p=3398530#post3398530

Also, not sure if you read my other post where someone paid $9000 for one fluorescent specimen on ebay if you missed it it is at the link below

https://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?p=3398517#post3398517


Those are some sharp looking specimens KT ..... literally ! looks like they could pierce your fingers and I agree that is a really nice glow under the UV ! It's nice you have colleagues in the mineral field that has access to such neat specimens !

His Majesty saw your comment about that ultra expensive specimen…totally out of all reason! That is a person making more money than he has sense, so he has money to blow….better to spend it on that than to suck it up his nose!

Actually those needle puffballs are quite soft and could easily be crushed by touching! Anyway they got inventoried and placed in the Royal Collection!
Yes, KT has to put together a care box for that person, to make it a good trade!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Another two goodies, from my friend in Kentucky!

Both these specimens are colorless fluorite, and they both fluoresce white in LWUV 365nm light.

The first pair show the fluorite perched on very dark non-fluorescing sphalerite. Both pics at 10X magnification. Water clear cubes. First pic is in natural light and second pic is in 365nm LWUV.

The second pair show colorless fluorite on light gray limestone. The first pic is in natural light and second is in 365nm LWUV. Magnification at 10X for both pics.

These are not some spectacular color but are nice because they fluoresce white and most fluorite is a bright blue!

Also, I included a single picture of clear fluorite, clear calcite, underlain by brown fluorite cubes. Just as a contrast!

Enjoy!

Enjoy the images!

 

[GKL]

His Majesty saw your comment about that ultra expensive specimen…totally out of all reason! That is a person making more money than he has sense, so he has money to blow….better to spend it on that than to suck it up his nose!

Actually those needle puffballs are quite soft and could easily be crushed by touching! Anyway they got inventoried and placed in the Royal Collection!
Yes, KT has to put together a care box for that person, to make it a good trade!

Good point, rather see someone spending money on something that won't harm them even if they did overpay for that specimen, maybe it was like modern art to them, some people will pay crazy prices for artwork that seems simply way off base

I guess those needle puffballs need to be collected from the wild carefully by someone who is educated about their fragility.

Both these specimens are colorless fluorite, and they both fluoresce white in LWUV 365nm light.

The first pair show the fluorite perched on very dark non-fluorescing sphalerite. Both pics at 10X magnification. Water clear cubes. First pic is in natural light and second pic is in 365nm LWUV.

The second pair show colorless fluorite on light gray limestone. The first pic is in natural light and second is in 365nm LWUV. Magnification at 10X for both pics.

These are not some spectacular color but are nice because they fluoresce white and most fluorite is a bright blue!

Also, I included a single picture of clear fluorite, clear calcite, underlain by brown fluorite cubes. Just as a contrast!

Enjoy!

Enjoy the images!

Hey, clear is neat too KT !

If someone saw some of those pics without the description of what it was they could easily think it was a pic of chunks of ice chopped off a clear block of ice ......but that's part of what make that specimen neat, clear minerals that look like ice that doesn't melt

 

[Rock Jock]

Nice imagery, KT! I recently got a UVBeast flashlight, so I will be playing around with it looking for minerals and evil things that go bump in the night. What kind of imagery setup do you use to grab that imagery? I tested it on ambergris and didn't see any real great fluorescence unfortunately. I was hoping for better since it is organic. I also would like to compare fresh ambergris to weathered.

 

[KingTotsalot]

Nice imagery, KT! I recently got a UVBeast flashlight, so I will be playing around with it looking for minerals and evil things that go bump in the night. What kind of imagery setup do you use to grab that imagery? I tested it on ambergris and didn't see any real great fluorescence unfortunately. I was hoping for better since it is organic. I also would like to compare fresh ambergris to weathered.

Rock Jock, Thanks for your comments! I will explain my imagery set up and then show its picture!

What I use is a no name brand Chinese USB led microscope. There are many sold on eBay and they likely are all made at the same Chinese factory. The optics of this little scope are pretty decent. It was stated that its magnification range was 100X to 1000X, but that is a lie...HA HA. They do furnish a grid system and working with it, I found it works out to be from 10X to ~50X, most of the pictures I take are in the range of 10 to 20X. It comes with software on a mini-CD, or you can go to a web site, given in the instruction manual and download it online. The software instructions are in Chinese and very broken English, but it is not difficult to figure out as it is self installing! It will put a camera icon on your screen and the microscope plugs into a USB port on my laptop. It is a bit of a hassle to learn to focus it, but that comes with a little experience. Once I have what I want to take an image of, I use my mouse on their software screen to click the camera icon, and I see the picture. The image is stored in my picture folder, in a folder called Camera Roll that the software put there. Just open it, drag and drop the pic onto your screen, and I use my picture software to rotate it, crop it, adjust the exposure and contrast, and sharpen it...all if necessary. To take a picture with this of fluorescing minerals, the USB cable has a reostat that will dim and turn off the 10 led lights, then I simply shine my fluorescent light on the specimen until I get the results I want on the screen and snap the picture. Sometimes the UV light is too bright and washes out the fluorescence. In which case I have a hunters yellow pair of clip on glasses, which I insert between the specimen and the scope lens, while holding the fluorescent light too! In that case, I call for the Queen and she uses the mouse to click the camera icon when I say NOW! HA HA

I also have a regular autofocus Point and Shoot camera...it is a regular HP Photosmart M547 that I bought off of eBay for around $25...that is what I used to take the picture of the USB led scope (below). The USB scope cost me around $30 and I did not like the crappy stand, so I found a stand to fit it that is like a microscope stand, and it cost me around $20-$25, so I have about $50 in the scope set up. Some people spend thousands of dollars and do all kinds of fancy computer things to their photos. Granted they get better images, but not $1000 of dollars better! Also, it may take them 25-30 minutes to set up their equipment and I can snap off a half a dozen or more pictures in that length of time! My set up works for me.

 

[KingTotsalot]

Good point, rather see someone spending money on something that won't harm them even if they did overpay for that specimen, maybe it was like modern art to them, some people will pay crazy prices for artwork that seems simply way off base

I guess those needle puffballs need to be collected from the wild carefully by someone who is educated about their fragility.




Hey, clear is neat too KT !

If someone saw some of those pics without the description of what it was they could easily think it was a pic of chunks of ice chopped off a clear block of ice ......but that's part of what make that specimen neat, clear minerals that look like ice that doesn't melt

The ancient Greeks knew about various minerals and crystals, but they did not know about chemistry and how they formed...clear quartz crystal they thought was ice frozen so hard it would never thaw!

And yes, mineral collectors go though all kinds of methods of taking care of their specimens until they bring them in from the field! And they take great care not to damage them. KT has collected some specimens that had spiny brittle needles on them and you must be very careful handling them, not only will those needles break off ruining the specimen, but they also will, if you are not careful, be sticking in your fingers and hands! Then you need a microscope and pointy tweezers to remove them...I know this through personal experience!

 

[GKL]

The ancient Greeks knew about various minerals and crystals, but they did not know about chemistry and how they formed...clear quartz crystal they thought was ice frozen so hard it would never thaw!

And yes, mineral collectors go though all kinds of methods of taking care of their specimens until they bring them in from the field! And they take great care not to damage them. KT has collected some specimens that had spiny brittle needles on them and you must be very careful handling them, not only will those needles break off ruining the specimen, but they also will, if you are not careful, be sticking in your fingers and hands! Then you need a microscope and pointy tweezers to remove them...I know this through personal experience!

Neat info KT !

I wonder how they explained what they thought was "ice" as to why it was not cold

......hopefully that was a mistake you only made once

 

[KingTotsalot]

Neat info KT !

I wonder how they explained what they thought was "ice" as to why it was not cold

......hopefully that was a mistake you only made once

Oh, that has happened several times! Fortunately, those needles are black, so they are easy to see!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Two more fluorescent specimens arrived at the Castle today!

The first pair of photographs are of Barite from the Linwood Mine, Buffalo, Scott Co., Iowa. In the past, spectacular specimens of calcite with marcasite coatings made this site one of the best in the mid-continent. But now there are sparse nice barite specimens reaching the market. As a barite specimen, this one is good, but not great quality, but the white fluorescence under LWUV 365nm is pretty spectacular! When this specimen arrived, KT worried that it would not fit into the 2" deep drawers in the Royal wooden storage cabinet, but He began to pick at the back of the piece with the Royal fingernail and it started crumbling...the back displays no fluorescence, so He got the handy horse toenail trimmers out and carefully started to work. Success! His Majesty managed to trim away about 1/2 of the depth of the crumbly matrix and now it will fit nicely into a storage drawer! This piece also had very nice observable greenish fluorescence in both Long and Short wave UV. Hard to photograph that tho!

The second pair of images is of a polished 2.5" diameter Septarian Nodule Sphere from Ambondromamy, Betisibokak Region, Madagascar. Had a heckava time running down that location, but apparently there is only one major site in Madagascar that produces these in enough abundance for the locals to make spheres and other "art" objects from them. Anyway, the yellow to orange calcite fluoresces a pastel green and the brown aragonite fluoresces a pale yellowish cream, all in LWUV 365nm. Much more attractive in person than in the photograph.

Anyway, here are the 4 pictures:

 

[GKL]

The first pair of photographs are of Barite from the Linwood Mine, Buffalo, Scott Co., Iowa. In the past, spectacular specimens of calcite with marcasite coatings made this site one of the best in the mid-continent. But now there are sparse nice barite specimens reaching the market. As a barite specimen, this one is good, but not great quality, but the white fluorescence under LWUV 365nm is pretty spectacular! When this specimen arrived, KT worried that it would not fit into the 2" deep drawers in the Royal wooden storage cabinet, but He began to pick at the back of the piece with the Royal fingernail and it started crumbling...the back displays no fluorescence, so He got the handy horse toenail trimmers out and carefully started to work. Success! His Majesty managed to trim away about 1/2 of the depth of the crumbly matrix and now it will fit nicely into a storage drawer! This piece also had very nice observable greenish fluorescence in both Long and Short wave UV. Hard to photograph that tho!

The second pair of images is of a polished 2.5" diameter Septarian Nodule Sphere from Ambondromamy, Betisibokak Region, Madagascar. Had a heckava time running down that location, but apparently there is only one major site in Madagascar that produces these in enough abundance for the locals to make spheres and other "art" objects from them. Anyway, the yellow to orange calcite fluoresces a pastel green and the brown aragonite fluoresces a pale yellowish cream, all in LWUV 365nm. Much more attractive in person than in the photograph.

Anyway, here are the 4 pictures:

Neat specimens KT !!!!

When I first looked at the UV lighted specimen all the way on the bottom it kinda looked like you discovered a new planet

......It's amazing with as many specimens as you get there continue to be more unique ones like that.

That one you said was crumbly even looks crumbly, but hey, as long as it glows under UV that's what matters !

 

[KingTotsalot]

Neat specimens KT !!!!

When I first looked at the UV lighted specimen all the way on the bottom it kinda looked like you discovered a new planet

......It's amazing with as many specimens as you get there continue to be more unique ones like that.

That one you said was crumbly even looks crumbly, but hey, as long as it glows under UV that's what matters !

If you liked that sphere, GKL, KT has another couple of them ordered so we will see what you think about them, when they come in!

 

[GKL]

If you liked that sphere, GKL, KT has another couple of them ordered so we will see what you think about them, when they come in!

Hey, get 9 of them and name them like the planets in our solar system

(just joking KT )

 

[KingTotsalot]

Hey, get 9 of them and name them like the planets in our solar system

(just joking KT )

KT has two more ordered and a polished egg! His Majesty is certain you will find them interesting! KT would LIKE to get a dozen or so, each with a different color and pattern!

 

[GKL]

KT has two more ordered and a polished egg! His Majesty is certain you will find them interesting!

KT would LIKE to get a dozen or so, each with a different color and pattern!

.......hey, getting eggs by the dozen is not unusual

.......hopefully the price on those eggs don't go up like the chicken eggs have

Just joking KT, I'm sure those specimens you ordered will look pretty neat if they are anything like the "planet" looking one you got already

 

[KingTotsalot]

.......hey, getting eggs by the dozen is not unusual

.......hopefully the price on those eggs don't go up like the chicken eggs have

Just joking KT, I'm sure those specimens you ordered will look pretty neat if they are anything like the "planet" looking one you got already

Oh, those eggs and spheres are expensive, and there is one dominant supplier on eBay who tends to set the going prices....bad part is they have blocked me as a buyer and I never bought a thing from them! And when I tried to contact them when I discovered this, they have blocked me there too! It's too bad because they have some spheres and stuff I want, but no way to get it, and no way to find out why! Bummer! Fortunately they do not have a total lock on things!

Anyway, according to postal trackers, I am supposed to get one package today and about 5 on Saturday! But who knows? I heard that the USPO is about to slow down their service....I guess they want a big backup of mail AND to PO everyone too! They seem to be acting like they are the only shipper! I do get a lot of things off Amazon but they use either FEDEX, Big Brown, or their own contractors. Fortunately, Amazon just built a regional distribution center only 3 miles from the Castle, out by the interstate. Last few items KT ordered, he got free next day delivery! Surprising in these days of delays and excuses by everyone!

 

[GKL]

Oh, those eggs and spheres are expensive, and there is one dominant supplier on eBay who tends to set the going prices....bad part is they have blocked me as a buyer and I never bought a thing from them! And when I tried to contact them when I discovered this, they have blocked me there too! It's too bad because they have some spheres and stuff I want, but no way to get it, and no way to find out why! Bummer! Fortunately they do not have a total lock on things!

Anyway, according to postal trackers, I am supposed to get one package today and about 5 on Saturday! But who knows? I heard that the USPO is about to slow down their service....I guess they want a big backup of mail AND to PO everyone too! They seem to be acting like they are the only shipper! I do get a lot of things off Amazon but they use either FEDEX, Big Brown, or their own contractors. Fortunately, Amazon just built a regional distribution center only 3 miles from the Castle, out by the interstate. Last few items KT ordered, he got free next day delivery! Surprising in these days of delays and excuses by everyone!

Hey, about that supplier on eBay - if they don't want your business and your money that is their loss ! you can support their competitor

We regularly buy from Amazon and about 99% of the time we get stuff in 2 days, occasionally they can get it to us in one day, and once in a great while there might be an item that due to it's size/weight might take an extra couple days or so but still very timely compared to other sources.

 

[KingTotsalot]

welp, The Royal Egg and a couple of small dino bone spheres arrived today!

KT was pleased this morning when He looked in the Royal Mail Box and couple of packages were in there! Along with the normal junk mail!

Anyway, all of these specimens originated in Madagascar!

The first one has several pictures....The Egg! I measures 2" in length. First picture is in natural light with a white background, 2nd image is backlit on a black background, 3rd image shows it in SWUV, and the 4th image shows it in LWUV. KT likes the fluorescent banding in it!

The other samples are of dinosaur bone, and measures a little over 1" diameter. Does not look like much in natural light but the bone pore structure shows up nicely in SWUV! The second dino bone sphere is about the same size and under SWUV whatever mineral has replaced the bone, some of it shows up as circular whorls on the surface of the sphere...does not show anything unusual in natural light!

KT has no idea what happened to the size of two of these pictures, but they are tiny! HA HA His Majesty tried to change their size to be more viewable but nothing worked! Oh well!

Enjoy the pictures! KT likes His Royal Dino Bone striker sized marbles!