NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover

A patch of a small rock checked out during the daytime, and again at night using the SHERLOC WATSON camera with its UV LED lighting on sol 1572.

I feel that unlikely to be fluorescent minerals, more likely to be a reflection of the UV light off the recently exposed surface of the rock, but as usual, we'll have to wait for the official word from the team.

Fluorescence is one of two kinds of photoluminescence, the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation, many substances will glow with colored visible light. The color of the light emitted depends on the chemical composition of the substance.

Perseverance rover acquired these image using its SHERLOC WATSON camera, located on the turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm.

The images were acquired on July 22, 2025 (Sol 1572) at the local mean solar time of 13:34:42 & 22:39:18

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech