No Two Alike: Snowflake Photography Reveals Nature's Symmetry [Slide Show]
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NO TWO ALIKE: The growth of a snow crystal is very sensitive to the local temperature and humidity. Because each snowflake takes a different path as it falls from the clouds, each grows differently. .. Courtesy of Ken Libbrecht
A REGAL SNOWFLAKE: This rather majestic specimen fell on an exceptionally cold night in Vermont. The crystal measures three millimeters (0.12 inch) from tip to tip, and it is lavishly decorated with a variety of surface markings and faceted branches... Courtesy of Ken Libbrecht
THREE-SIDED MYSTERY: Occasionally a snow crystal will exhibit a three-fold symmetry, looking like truncated triangles. Why some crystals grow into this form remains something of a scientific puzzle. Courtesy of Ken Libbrecht
MONSTER CRYSTAL: This large specimen measures 10.2 millimeters (0.4 inch) from tip to tip, about as large as a dime. The crystal exhibits some fractal, or self-similar, structure. Many side branches have their own side branches, and some of them even have additional side branches... Courtesy of Ken Libbrecht
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BRANCHING AND SIDE BRANCHING: This snow crystal started out as a small hexagonal prism, and the six branches sprouted from the six corners of the hexagon. As it grew, additional side branches sprouted from the main branches... Courtesy of Ken Libbrecht
EXCEPTIONAL SYMMETRY: As a growing snow crystal tumbles through the clouds, it experiences ever-changing temperatures and humidity levels along the way. Each change in its local environment changes the way a crystal grows, producing a variety of complex structures... Courtesy of Ken Libbrecht
SECTORED PLATES: Snow crystals are often decorated with ridges that appear to divide each crystal or its branches into sectors, and these forms are called sectored plates. Courtesy of Ken Libbrecht
STELLAR DENDRITES: The canonical winter icons, stellar snow crystals are thin plates of ice with six main arms, or branches. When each main branch contains several side branches, the crystals are called stellar dendrites, which means "treelike"... Courtesy of Ken Libbrecht
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CAPPED COLUMNS: These exotic snow crystal forms occur when the growth changes from columnar to platelike as the crystals fall. The archetypical example looks like a stubby axle flanked by two hexagonal wheels... Courtesy of Ken Libbrecht
COLUMNS AND NEEDLES: Warmer snowfalls often bring crystals shaped like slender hexagonal columns—the same basic form as wooden pencils. Often the columns have hollow ends, and some are long and thin, like tiny ice needles... Courtesy of Ken Libbrecht
EXOTIC COLORS: This picture was taken using a blue background augmented with various colored lights shining in from the sides. Where the snow crystal is thin and flat, you mainly see just the background coming through... Courtesy of Ken Libbrecht
WHITE SNOW: Many people think snowflakes are white, but a close look reveals that they are transparent, like glass. Snowflakes and snowbanks appear white because light is scattered from the edges of the clear crystals... Courtesy of Ken Libbrecht
