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Home Other Great Pics

Christmas flakes: macro photography reveals unique snowflake design

Every snowflake truly is unique.

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
December 18, 2019
in Great Pics
Reading Time: 3 mins read
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Alexey Kljatov/CC BY-NC 3.0

Alexey Kljatov has photographed thousands of snowflakes, honing his technique and taking some stunning shots in the process.

Alexey Kljatov/CC BY-NC 3.0

A snowflake is a single ice crystal coalescing around a dust particle. After it grows, it starts to develop a unique shape — although the differences might be minuscule, every snowflake is indeed unique in its design.

Alexey Kljatov/CC BY-NC 3.0

It is not entirely impossible for two identical snowflakes to exist, but it is extremely unlikely. There are 1019 (10 quintillion) water molecules which make up a typical snowflake, all of which can grow at different rates and in different patterns.

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Alexey Kljatov/CC BY-NC 3.0

A Japanese physicist by the name of Ukichiro Nakaya developed a crystal morphology diagram, relating crystal shape to the temperature and moisture conditions under which they formed.

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Alexey Kljatov/CC BY-NC 3.0

Photographing snowflakes is an art form in itself, but it’s not just the photography itself — processing such small objects requires time and patience, says Kljatov. He works the entire year, including the summer, to expand and finesse his collection of snowflakes.

Alexey Kljatov/CC BY-NC 3.0

Snow can also precipitate as graupel or sleet. The largest snowflake was, allegedly, 15 inches wide. As the story goes, during a snowstorm in January 1887 at Montana’s Fort Keogh, the snowflakes were “as big as frying pans.” This claim has not been substantiated, but it is still listed as world record.

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Alexey Kljatov/CC BY-NC 3.0
Alexey Kljatov/CC BY-NC 3.0
Alexey Kljatov/CC BY-NC 3.0

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Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

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