Yooperlite wrapped in aged brass
Crystal: Yooperlite
Metal: Brass
Colors: Grey, orange
Pendant Length: 4.5cm
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Yooperlite is a type of fluorescent syenite rock that is found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was first discovered by Erik Rintamaki, a local resident, in 2017. When illuminated with long-wave ultraviolet light, Yooperlite rocks display a distinctive orange-red glow due to the presence of the mineral sodalite.
Yooperlite glows because of a phenomenon called fluorescence. Fluorescence occurs when a substance absorbs light at one wavelength (or color) and then emits it at a longer wavelength. In the case of Yooperlite, the mineral sodalite contained in the rock is responsible for the fluorescence.
Sodalite is a mineral that contains a small amount of the element chlorine. When sodalite is exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light, the chlorine atoms in the mineral become excited and emit energy in the form of visible light. This causes the Yooperlite rock to glow with a bright orange-red color under UV light.
