Ultra Violet Imaging

As humans the electromagnetic spectrum available to us ranges from red through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo to violet (some people can see into the ultra-violet [UV]). Consequently our visual view of the world is limited compared with that available to other animals which can see further into the electromagnetic spectrum.

An ultra-violet panorama at Frinton-on-sea, Essex, UK; View north towards Walton-on-Naze.
An ultra-violet panorama at Frinton-on-sea, Essex, UK; View north towards Walton-on-Naze.

Typically, many can see ultra-violet, so their view of a simple flower like a Dandelion is quite different to ours:

UV reflecting Dandelion
UV reflecting Dandelion

[It is important to understand the difference between recording/seeing ultra-violet and seeing colours produced by shining UV on some objects (e.g. glowing teeth and white shirts in a nightclub) – this is fluorescence and results is the emission of light by a substance that has UV absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation or other electromagnetic radiation, typically UV.]

Insects are particularly sensitive to UV and many plants have evolved patterns involving this colour.

Calystegia
Calystegia
EveningPrimrose
EveningPrimrose
A crucifer
A crucifer
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum
Chives
Chives
Bellflower
Bellflower
Japanese Anemone
Japanese Anemone
Marigold
Marigold
Michaelmas Daisy
Michaelmas Daisy
Michalmas Daisy
Michalmas Daisy
Rudbeckia
Rudbeckia
Begonia
Begonia

Many birds can see UV too and use this in their plumage, particularly males, so what we see is quite different to what a hen bird would see:

A Parrot
A Parrot
Gouldian finch
Gouldian finch

Should you wish to contact me:

You can use this form to contact me:

Name:*
E-mail:*
Subject:*
Details:
Type the characters you see here:

* Indicates required fields

Unless otherwise stated all images are Copyright of Gerald Legg, naturaimaging. If you would like to use any images, then high resolution ones can be obtained by contacting me.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.