It’s a winter wonderland!

As most of the country is blanketed in snow for the holidays, a scientist has looked at the beauty in every snowflake. This is a microscopic winter wonderland that few have ever seen before now.

Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht, chairman of the Physics Department at CalTech University in Pasadena, California, uses a specially-designed snowflake photomicroscope to photograph snowflakes. These incredible snowflake photos are at Dr. Libbrecht’s Snow Crystal Photo Gallery.

If the weather outside is frightful and you’re looking for something fun to keep the family entertained and engaged for hours, check out CalTech’s Snow Crystals website. You can learn everything you ever wanted to know about the physics of snowflakes, ice crystals and frost, a guide to the different types of snowflakes, the history of snowflakes, how designer snowflakes are made, and the myths and nonsense about snowflakes. There are snowflake movies. You can even learn how to grow your own frost and your own snow.

Dr. Libbrecht also writes about the Zen of snowflakes and, using the quantum physics of snowflakes, he answers the eternal question: “Is it really true that no two snowflakes are alike?” For real.

Hat tip to the New Scientist.