The mineral above, known as “Christmas Ore“, is made up of calcite, willemite, and franklinite and it goes bright red and green when exposed to short-wave ultraviolet (SWUV) light. The glowing you can see in the image is known as fluorescence where a substance known as a fluorophore emits light after absorbing energy—often from UV light.
Fun fact: franklinite was made the state mineral of New Jersey in 2013!
Filed under: Christmas energy fluorescence light mineralogy minerals