CEET Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies - Explorer, VSB - Technical University of Ostrava

This photograph was taken at the Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies (CEET) during the Czech European Researchers’ Night. It was an experiment demonstrating the fluorescent properties of eggs.

The reason they glow so beautifully is that some eggs’ shells contain trace amounts of organic substances such as porphyrins or derivatives of protoporphyrin IX, which fluoresce when exposed to UV radiation. These substances are formed as metabolic by-products in hens’ bodies and may be influenced by the species, what they feed on and their environment.

It is the presence of these compounds that produces this striking luminous display.

Photo: Vojtěch Blažek

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