“One hundred twenty-five years ago, Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley took the first microphotographs of snow; 46 years later he died of pneumonia contracted while photographing snowflakes in his barn. Today, CalTech physicist Kenneth Libbrecht is carrying Bentley’s work into the 21st century — and posting the findings online.
Libbrecht’s gallery includes a remarkably beautiful photograph of the “stellar dendrite” — a many-branched, starlike form that creates the light, fluffy powder that skiers adore. You’ll also see a “hollow column” (which resembles a tiny pipette) and the superdelicate “needle” snowflake, which appears only when the temperature nears 23 degrees F. Keep looking, and you’ll find prisms, sectored plates, and the rare triangular snowflake. According to Libbrecht, each of these flakes holds about a billion billion molecules.” – - VSL
Earlier this winter we read Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, and more recently we have Bentley’s Snow Crystals out of the library. My eight year old is finding lots of inspiration for his drawing from it! Thanks for this post. He’ll love the pictures!
Oh good!!
We read Showflake Bentley, too and will hopefully do the snowflake in the jar experiment – - which is when I will show Boo the photos on the site.
The borax experiment? Our borax crystal snowflakes post is what brings in the most hits to my blog!