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A nicely tenebrescent sodalite (hackmanite) sphere. This sodalite is bright under all wavelengths, midwave, shortwave and longwave with a nice tenebrescence under both shortwave and longwave.
The sodalite area displays some interesting phosphorescence – we don’t usually see this in Greenland sodalite. Very unique stuff. You won’t find many Greenland sodalite spheres such as this one on the market.
Blue can likely be analcime. Black arfvedsonite crystals with a fluorescent uranyl green coating makes for a nice contrast.
What is tenebrescence? This is the process when the sodalite on this piece changes color after exposure to UV (shortwave or longwave), darkening to a purple as shown in the GIF - a unique hue compared to other Greenland sodalites. Under longwave the bright orange fluorescence is unmistakable.
They were nicknamed "Yooperlites" which is derived from the name “yooper”. A yooper is a nickname for the Upper Peninsula natives and these fluorescent stones quickly gained fame. After data was published on these fluorescent stones, it was discovered that sodalite is the actual true mineral that is fluorescing 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.
