SNOWFLAKE - MANDALAS winter.

The structure and appearance of ice crystals depends on where they fall, - the world's most famous explorer of snowflakes - a physics professor Kenneth Libbrecht (Kenneth Libbrecht) from the California Institute of Technology.

 - The most beautiful and complex structure snowflakes fall, where the climate is harsh - for example, in Alaska and eastern Siberia. But in large cities, where the climate is milder, the structure of snow crystals much easier. However, variants of the assembly of these complex set of symmetric structures - and still could not find among them two are alike. Professor Libbrecht grows snowflakes artificially in the laboratory and nature photographs.

 - You can not have four, five, and octagonal snowflakes - says the professor.
 - In general, they are strictly hexagonal shape. From the viewpoint of crystallography, is the most natural form for the crystal. Although there are instances, and c three and twelve parties. But here's the paradox: everywhere in the world for some reason, often across triangular. Libbrecht intrigued by the mystery. And he decided to find out why the triangular snowflakes in nature more. For this he used a special "snow machine" - the camera, which can control the growth of snowflakes. As a result, it became clear that the "triangle" - quite simply the most stable.

No disturbance of the airflow, whether it's even a big storm, do not change its shape. Others have their beauty under the onslaught of natural disasters lose, so catch them can be extremely rare. But other forms of snowflakes - set. Thus, according to the classification of the International Commission on Snow and Ice - there is such! - All ice crystals are divided into groups: plates, needles, stars, urchins, bars, fluff, cufflinks, prisms and irregular shapes.

 - The most common form of snowflakes can be found when there is little snow and blowing a light wind, and the weather is especially cold at the same time - says Libbrecht.

 - On the model of ice crystals because the temperature influences. For example, with -2 ° C obtained flat discs. At -5 ° C - the needles. At -15 ° C - big beautiful flakes, which are often depicted on Christmas cards. At temperatures below -30 ° C - crystals Similar to columns. And there's another mystery inherent in the structure of snowflakes, which tries to uncover the professor.

 - In its order and chaos coexist together - says Libbrecht. - Thus, it is known from physics that, depending on the conditions of the solid body must be either crystalline (when atoms are arranged), or in an amorphous (when the atoms form a random network) state. Snowflakes also have a crystal lattice in which oxygen atoms are arranged orderly form regular hexagons, and the hydrogen atoms are arranged randomly. It was only later in some magical way these atoms are shuffled so that the produced works of art.

And this masterpiece of nature is a worthy place. So, in the town of Kaga on the island of Honshu (Japan) established the world's only museum of snowflakes. And Professor Libbrecht unique collection of rarities of snow, which can be seen on his website.