The discussion centers on the visibility of ultraviolet (UV) patterns in evening primrose flowers, which are invisible to the human eye but detectable by insects like bees. Participants clarify that specialized sensors can capture UV light and translate it into visible colors, allowing humans to perceive these patterns through photography. The conversation also touches on the potential application of such sensors in fluorescent or UV microscopy to reveal normally invisible details.
PREREQUISITESBiologists, photographers, and researchers interested in the interaction between UV light and plant biology, as well as those exploring advanced imaging techniques in microscopy.
AryaUnderfoot said:I understand that the wavelength of UV is too short to be absorbed by our cone cells, but I've came across 2 photos of evening primrose, which to our eyes are a dull yellow, but to insects (can see the UV light), it has a special pattern. My question is, I thought we're not able to see it. but how can we know it's it from the photo
Umm, my English is not good..but I'll try. So there were 2 photos of the same evening primrose. One showed it as the way we normal human will see it--yellow and without pattern; the other one showed it as the way bees see it--with special pattern. It is known that bees can see into UV range while human can't, so we shouldn't be able to see that pattern--it was not meant for us. My question is, how come we can see it from the photo? I mean, like for a color-blind person, they cannot see color even though we present them with colored photograph.ZapperZ said:You want us to explain what you see in the photo without us actually seeing the photo?
You might want to re-read your post again, because I don't quite understand what you're asking.
Zz.
AryaUnderfoot said:Umm, my English is not good..but I'll try. So there were 2 photos of the same evening primrose. One showed it as the way we normal human will see it--yellow and without pattern; the other one showed it as the way bees see it--with special pattern. It is known that bees can see into UV range while human can't, so we shouldn't be able to see that pattern--it was not meant for us. My question is, how come we can see it from the photo? I mean, like for a color-blind person, they cannot see color even though we present them with colored photograph.
Ahh I never knew! What does this sensor call? I tried to google it but I can't find its principle. I'm interested to know if we can (or already did?) fit that in the fluorescent or uv microscope to observe the patterns that are normally invisible to us.ZapperZ said:You DO know that (i) we have sensors that can detect UV light, or sensors that have a wider range than our eyes; and (ii) these sensors can then "translate" these varying frequencies into color scales that we can see?
I mean, what do you think is happening in infrared goggles that allows us to see at night?
Zz.
http://www.hamamatsu.com/jp/en/4005.htmlAryaUnderfoot said:Ahh I never knew! What does this sensor call? I tried to google it but I can't find its principle. I'm interested to know if we can (or already did?) fit that in the fluorescent or uv microscope to observe the patterns that are normally invisible to us.
AryaUnderfoot said:I understand that the wavelength of UV is too short to be absorbed by our cone cells,
AryaUnderfoot said:but I've came across 2 photos of evening primrose, which to our eyes are a dull yellow, but to insects (can see the UV light), it has a special pattern. My question is, I thought we're not able to see it. but how can we know it's it from the photo
Andy Resnick said:There's a guy who does really nice UV and IR photography:
http://www.naturfotograf.com/index2.html
He explains a bit about assigning color to the UV and IR,...