This Surirella was imaged with the AO Smith-Baker interference scope with a 40x shearing setup. The specimen is a fossil diatom from a formation in the Isle of Skye off the coast of Scotland.

Thanks
Frez

A very beautiful image that you have captured there Frez. I have always found diatoms to be the most detailed art work of mother nature. That is very nice indeed, suitable for enlargment and framing, don't you think? :) Hi Ken I don't know about enlargement. My Sony saves pics in jpeg format only. ...

Great capture Frez :D. I, too, am jealous as I have yet to see a luna moth. Go for that DSLR - you'll be more than ready the next time you happen upon such a find! Laura Now that's amazing! You have almost every other critter dropping in at your house. (including Mom and I) :) Everyone, this is my ...

Hi Danny I don't doubt that you bump into critters that are completely alien to anything around here. Imaging nature is becoming a lot of fun and I'm considering a DSLR that can be teamed up with a microscope. One of the Canons would be best because of their remote capture software. Do you have an o...

This centric diatom was illuminated with phase contrast using a dark medium 40x phase objective. The camera was a Sony DSC-P52. Post processing was applied to the background and to the edges of the diatom.

Hi Jim

That's beautiful! Congrats! I have so much trouble imaging those. Don't they have a protrusion of sorts on their undersides? They always seem to be cocked or leaning to one side. What a remarkable image.

Thanks!
Frez

Thank you Mike. The white background is a reflective vinyl tent. I spotted the moth as we were getting ready to leave. It was about 200' from the vehicle. I ran back to it and grabbed the camera. Luckily the moth was still there, but the batteries were dead. :shock: So it was a race back to the veh...

The Luna Moth is only active at night. This specimen is a male as is indicated by the larger antennae. The lifespan as a moth is about one week. His wingspan is about 4.5 inches. Although the composition of the image is poor, I felt that the Luna is rare enough that some may enjoy the image. The ca...