Thermoluminescence is phosphorescence triggered by temperatures above a certain threshold. This should not be confused with incandescence, which occurs at higher temperatures. In thermoluminescence, heat is not the primary source of the energy, only the trigger for...
This is an archive of an excellent post in our Fluorescent Minerals Facebook group by Richard David Armstrong.Blue fluorescent diamond under longwave UV light. Photo credit: Svetozar Simov.There have been a couple posts on diamonds the past couple days, so thought I'd...
The TGMS and Annual Show The Tucson Gem and Mineral Society (TGMS) formed in 1946, and the first Tucson Gem and Mineral Show® was held in a local elementary school in 1955. The show grew to the point that in 1972 it moved to its present location in the Tucson...
After a one-year postponement, the belated 50th anniversary of the FMS was celebrated at the 2022 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show® hosted by the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society (TGMS). “The Show That Glows.” The Fluorescent Mineral Society Pavilion, held in the newly finished addition to the Tucson Convention Center, was a must see, although…
A question often asked: “Is the blue fluorescence in this rock real?”. This is a pretty common question, or often a wrong conclusion made by many first starting out in our hobby. Our UV lights have UV bandpass filters (“filter” defined here for our purposes as UV transmitting, visible blocking) which block the visible light…
At the Rochester Mineralogical Symposium in 2022 Madeline Murchland gave a very nice presentation about fluorescence spectroscopy and zoning in apatite. Here is a recording of her talk.
Dennis Michaels (from our Fluorescent Minerals Facebook group) attended his first Ultraviolation show in Oct 2021. He took some amazing photos which really illustrate what this shindig is all about. Every rock is fluorescent. The room is filled with dealer and...
Everybody is familiar with mineral specimens that fluoresce two or more colors under shortwave UV light. Just think about a classical red-and-green calcite and willemite from Franklin. But are there similar multicolor specimens under longwave?? Mark challenged the...
This article was originally published by Stefano Buzzoni on Nature's Rainbow.To produce crystals at home is an interesting experiment and if they fluoresce, could be “magic”. Furthermore, it’s easy and cheap. The only ingredient you have to use in big quantity is...
This article was originally published by Stefano Buzzoni on Nature's Rainbow.This kind of fluorite was well described by Robbins (1984). “...This material is opaque, and greenish or gray in daylight. Under long wave, the fluorescence is violet. Under short wave, the...