Friday, May 25, 2012

[UV] Gazania splendens: Baader-U vs Jupiter-U filter for reflected UV ultraviolet photography

Again more about that new Jupiter-U filter of mine. This time it is about a yellow Gazania splendens flower, that I bought at a nursery (Huben, Ladenburg, Germany)

[click on image to see a larger one]

All triptychs are presented VIS left, Baader-U middle, Jupiter-U right:



The petal tips of this flower reflect strongly around 365nm (yellow), but also the inside has some surprises, a ring of UV bright white dots (also visible for us humans) set against a very dark petal ground. There are a few more UV colors visible that indicate soem reflection around 385nm (purple) that the longer wave Baader-U filter as well as a to a lesser amount also the Jupiter-U is able to reveal.

Here more details of that flower (VIS, Baader-U, Jupiter-U in that sequence):







A very pretty species and surely attractive to its pollinating bees!


Might it be that the unusual high UV reflection of its leafs aims at protecting it from too much UV radiation?

Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos