Snowflake 2023-11-21-8419-30 alt

by Alexey Kljatov

Title

Snowflake 2023-11-21-8419-30 alt

Artist

Alexey Kljatov

Medium

Photograph - Macro Photograph

Description

Patterns born from chance,
flawless in their brief stillness—
chaos dreams of form.

This snowflake presents a textbook example of a star plate crystal, exhibiting a thin, hexagonal plate as its foundational structure. The flake features six uniformly spaced protrusions along its edges—short, broad arms capped with ornate, secondary hexagonal facets. These arm tips are elevated and exhibit intricate internal geometries, contributing to the snowflake’s distinctive appearance and emphasizing its radial symmetry. Such elaborate structuring is typical of plate-like snow crystals that have grown in relatively quiet atmospheric conditions with stable supersaturation levels.

The interior of the snowflake reveals a complex central pattern—an inset hexagon with fine, ridge-like growths extending toward each corner. This central structure is slightly raised and sharply defined, suggesting an initial rapid phase of crystal growth at the nucleus, followed by a slower, more measured expansion along the periphery. The combination of layered features and internal symmetry indicates that the crystal likely experienced multiple growth regimes as it descended through different atmospheric layers.

Despite the presence of well-developed secondary arms, the surface of the main plate remains clear and smooth, with no visible signs of riming or melting. This clarity suggests minimal environmental disturbance during formation and preservation, likely in cold, supersaturated air with little to no wind.

The prism facets are sharply defined, and the basal planes exhibit fine, stepped edges, revealing a consistent and uninterrupted deposition of water vapor. The snowflake’s overall form speaks to an environment where physical conditions favored symmetry and detail—offering a fine example of how environmental stability and molecular physics come together to create natural crystalline beauty in the atmosphere.

My collection contains hundreds macro photos of real snowflakes, and constantly grows. Here you'll find ideas for home and office decor, interior design and gifts: canvas, metal, acrylic, wood and framed prints, posters, greeting cards, phone cases for Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy, portable battery chargers, fleece blankets, wall tapestries, coffee mugs, tote bags, t-shirts, vinyl stickers, and more: 30+ products available.

Every purchase comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Products shipped to any destination in the world.

Uploaded

April 15th, 2025

Colors

Embed

Share

Tags