A member asked a practical question: do all rubies fluoresce the same way, and if they do not, can weak fluorescence be predicted from the way a specimen looks in daylight? The answer is no on both counts. Rubies do not all fluoresce the same way. Some glow intensely,...
Although not specifically fluorescent mineral oriented, these graphics are a great illustration of how our rocks are created. Just add some activators into the cycle and we have fluorescent rocks!Processes that shape the earth's surface are ongoing, continuously or...
What’s the difference between fluorescence and bioluminescence? We illuminate the biochemical distinctions.
A regularly recurring question in our Facebook Fluorescent Mineral Group is the differences between the various wollastonites found the the Ogdensburg area (areas around Franklin NJ). If you are a serious Franklin collector you can almost identify what boulder at...
This an old short article originally posted around 2016. Also available on UV SYSTEMS website: https://www.uvsystems.com/blogs/news/long-wave-filters-are-now-more-expensive-400-lw-filter-glass-is-no-longer-made By Don Newsome; UV SYSTEMS, Inc. Kokomo Opalescent Glass...
Ever want to store your glow rocks in boxes, but don't want to pay for flats? Do what I do - collect copy paper boxes at your place of business. Put the bottom of the box into the lid, then trace around it with a pencil. Use a carpet knife and yardstick to cut along...
Hungary has some really outstanding localities for unique hyalites: Monok, Gyöngyössolymos, and recently Tarcal. Specimens from this locality tend to be the biggest, glassiest and the best from Hungary! The downside is that the andesite quarry uses explosives, which...
A presentation on COLOR & ENERGY... Learn the scientific concepts behind why rocks glow in the dark. This video provides an in-depth look into the science behind fluorescent minerals, presented by Bob Oblack. It covers the science of color and energy, luminescence and...
After a one-year postponement, the 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...
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...