Autunite

Archived from radmon.org - originally posted 06/09/2019

I have just received my latest specimen, Autunite. It is quite fantastic! It is tiny, quite spicy and fluoresces like I have never seen before. The pictures don't do it justice as the colour is strikingly vibrant and has more of a yellow than green fluorescence. I struggled taking photos of it due to the amount of light it produces when it fluoresces. Like trying to take pictures of a light bulb! I took a few pictures with differing light levels. A selection are below. 22,000 CPM on a SBM-20 is quite spicy! Very happy with it.

"Autunite (hydrated calcium uranyl phosphate), with formula Ca(UO2)2(PO4)2·10–12H2O, is a yellow-greenish fluorescent phosphate mineral... ...Due to the moderate uranium content of 48.27% it is radioactive and also used as uranium ore" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autunite There are a couple of sellers on ebay at the time of writing with some specimens. Search for 'Autunite'.