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The bands of light you see in some of these spheres are not caused by the camera's flash; there was no flash used. That is what the spheres look like under regular fluorescent office lights! The presence, absence and direction of the bands is dependent on the orientation of the sphere. |
As is common with this mineral, there are fractures present in these spheres. They all have fractures, but they all also have a "good side" that is relatively clear of fractures. But the fractures are not necessarily a detraction because of the way they interact with light. On some spheres I noticed that it looked like there was a hole in the sphere until I ran my finger over it and realized it was not a hole, but was caused by fractures playing with the light!
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Turned this way, it is opaque. |
Free clear plastic stand |
M605 -
These spheres of crystalline
Ulexite
have the same interesting optical properties as the "TV Rock"
except their round shape makes the way the mineral plays with
light truly bizarre!
The first thing you notice is a band of concentrated light that moves across the orb if you move, or if you slowly turn it. The band will flash across the sphere seemingly too quickly for how slowly it was being turned. It makes your brain say "Hey, wait a minute... how did it do that!?"
If you look closely, you see that the band is made up of thousands of silvery "fibers" caused by the way the mineral crystallized.
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Turned this way, it is transparent! |
The kicker is when you turn the sphere to where you are looking directly at the ends of the fibers and it suddenly becomes transparent, transmitting the light through the fibers from the other side. Turn it slightly and it goes opaque.
Most
of these spheres have a yellowish / brownish tint to them. Probably as a result of iron oxide staining (rust) when the mineral was forming. Personally I like these. It adds color to them. These spheres have the same light reflecting properties. Ray |
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