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"Red" sodalite is found in one area along the southern shore of the Tunuliarfik Fjord. It is named because the almost colorless sodalite turns a nice reddish color when exposed to sunlight. Exposed to shortwave UV (UVC) it deepens to a grape purple (tenebrescence). The color is faded by exposure to any UV free white light, and can be repeated indefinitely. (See the animation picture)
Under SW UV the colors on this piece really make for an interesting specimen. Bright green fluorescence is uranyl activated while the blue fluorescence is from an unknown mineral. The sodalite starts out a nice bright orange and deepens to a rust color as the tenebrescence sets in. Under LW the whole pieces fluoresces a nice bright orange.
365nm UV light is often called "blacklight". Before the advent of longwave UV LEDs, blacklight fluorescent tubes, (the kinds used in hippie days to light up psychedelic posters) were the standard longwave UV light for our hobby. They were not very powerful but they did light a large area.
Enter 365nm UV LEDs
First, an animation showing the difference between the UV flashlight we recommend (365nm filtered UV flashlight) versus unfiltered 395nm UV flashlights we see many folks carrying around at shows. So. much. visible purple light. We selected a bunch of rocks as a demonstration. Took pictures of them under his flashlight without the filter and then with the filter.
A major component of rock collecting (for us) is simply getting out in nature. A buddy dragged us out to a very remote area here in middle Tennessee to hunt for fluorescent green agate. Since we consider ourselves pure "Glow Hounds" we weren't anticipating any glow rocks, just the beauty of the area, but we brought our UV lights anyway.
