Fluorescence microscopy of bone

[Scalebar]

I bought a pack of dinosaur bone rubble ( Sauropod allegedly) to make up the min price on a order of rock. Polished up a bit on my flat lap and did a fluorescence scan just on the endogenous fluorescence. Turns out to glow all over the shop and makes a great test slide . The microscope tracks a laser spot across the sample and measures the fluorescence produced at whatever wavelengths you set. The first image is one frame at higher res, the field of view is about 60 microns. but I was testing the frame stitching so the second image is a tiled scan - same res. The original files are 3d too  though you can't get that far into a lump of bone with visible light. 

Any good targets likely to give me fluorescence in the microfossil world?

[fossilus]

Very cool!

[DPS Ammonite]

Welcome to the Forum. A lot of fossils fluoresce especially creatures made out of aragonite and calcite. Sometimes a uv lamp can reveal original color patterns in a shell. Fossils replaced/covered by chalcedony (as in the case of your dino bone) often fluoresce because of the presence of uranium. Petrified wood often fluoresces.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4454669/#!po=0.211864

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/04/01/bone-white-ancient-shells-reveal-their-dazzling-colors-under-uv-light/%3foutputType=amp

 

 

Photo from PLOS arrival below.

 

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120924&type=printable

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2020 by DPS Ammonite

[Scalebar]

Cool! I think I'll be prepping a few more

[GallinaPinta]

Oh my god the more i learn about these fossils the more I'm intrigued by them