Snowflakes by Kenneth Libbrecht

minnesota.publicradio.org

The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Psalm 19:1

Kenneth Libbrecht is a physics professor at Caltech. To study a snowflake's descent to Earth, he set out to grow his own snow crystals. His photographs are just dazzling!

In an interview with Margaret Wertheim of Cabinet Magazine, he explained,
"We grow crystals on the end of an electric wire charged up to 2,000 volts. When you turn on the current, a needle of ice grows from the end of the wire. It is very, very thin, and then if you turn off the voltage, the needle growth stops and an individual crystal starts to grow like a flower from the end of the needle. We grow them at different temperatures, humidities, and air pressures."

In 2009, the United States Postal Service issued a set of 4 stamps featuring Libbrecht's images.

snowcrystals.com

Enjoy these fascinating photographs!

metafysica.nl

thesun.co.uk

worldculturepictorial

express.co.uk

redorbit

geo.de

nikonsmallworld

kideas

photography.nationalgeographic.com

zuzafun

futurity.org

leobird.typepad.com

Kenneth developed a website through Caltech called SnowCrystals.com. It's a great place to explore the physics of snowflakes, buy posters and prints, and find really "cool" (haha) projects for kids!

In the same interview, he said this: "I’m always encouraging people to get a magnifying glass and go look. There’s a lot to see with just a two-dollar magnifying glass." 

I'll be waiting for our next snowfall.