Looking For Snow Flakes

Besides stamps, I collect pictorial post marks too, and recently got one with snow flakes design for the coming winter.

And since there are many different flakes are put together in one round stamp, I come to notice that all of them have six branches. I did not notice that before. And then I tried to find some snow flake related stamps in my collection, but it seems that there are none especially designed for snow flakes. They only appear as background decorations in some winter-related stamps.

But I found them still very beautiful, as well as mysterious. I saw someone says that no two of them are the same , each one is unique.

Would you share your stamps with snow flakes on them, thanks! Let's enjoy watching snow flying on stamps!

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Oh, by the way, if you have any idea why they all have six branches , please teach me a bit! Although I have read some articles on it, but still can't quite understand it. Looks like it is a science puzzle.

Hi idebee

I believe that some snow flakes may be hexagonal in shape and therefore, six rays.

Interesting reads about snowflake shapes:

https://www.google.com/search?sourc...UDCAg&uact=5

Jerry B

Here is a booklet from France,2018
Snowflakes under the microscope.

The USPS has a comment on the shape of each snowflake here:

https://about.usps.com/news/nationa...pr15_057.htm

Hi, jbcev80, thanks for the link, but it seems that I can't load the page through google search. :-( Would you give the orginal link or the title so that I can search myself.

Hi;vayolene;thanks for the info. It is really a good idea for La Poste to use microscope photos on stamps. They are amazing!

Hi, 22crows, thanks for the tips! USPS has some colorful snow flakes indeed! They all give some background infos for the issue of snow flake stamps, but niether explains why the flakes are hexagonal from the beginning of their forming.


USPS Stamps with digital color first-day-of-issue postmarks,
really enjoy watching these colorful flakes flying on the screen!

This is the site jbcev80 was directing you to:

https://www.thoughtco.com/snowflake...hapes-609172

This explains why there are six sides:

AnnenbergLearner

You will have to think through it using your Physics knowledge and maybe build a model of how the water molecules' positives and negatives attract and repel each other.

Maybe work with a science-inclined child or young adult!

Thanks 22crows! Thanks Jerry! It's really an interesting article, and I am glad to know that there are many unconventional shapes adn be able to see them , the micrographs are amazing!

Here is another article I found which explains temperature's influences of the shapes:
https://www.phil-ouest.com/Timbre.p...s_neige_2018

one of the most expensive modern souvenir sheets in Russia. The edition is only 1800 pieces!

But snowflakes with 8 rays do exist...on french stamps!

Hello, DStamp, thank you very much! It's really a great site. Actually explaining it tp a kid is just what I need . :-) I enjoyed watching the video too, it kind brings me back to primary schools and listening curiously to the teachers telling the stories about this world in classrooms.

Hi idebee

I entered snowflake shapes in the Google search box. I am not sure why the link did not work. I tried it and it seemed alright.

Jerry B

Hi, Alexey, it's magnificent design of the snow flakes. And I am curious what's this stamp about and why it has such a small release number?

Hi, vayolene, thanks for the info, it's great to see octagonal snow flakes on the stamps! But according to the teachers, they are wrong! :-) Take a look at this article titled "What's Wrong With This Snowflake?" here at:
https://www.npr.org/templates/story...Id=121827582

Hi, Jerry B, I have seen the article, it's very interesting, 22crows has given me the original link, thanks again!

I underestimate the complexity of snow crystals (formal name for snowflakes), and it appears to be a whole lot of science!

This Japanese physicist, Nakaya Ukichiro, succeeded in producing artificial snow in 1936 and in 1941, he announced the Nakaya Diagram showing the relationship between snow crystal shape and growth conditions, and won the Japan Academy Prize for his snow crystal research.

http://www.snowcrystals.com/

And this interesting site turns out to be the ultimate resources related to this topic , and the webmaster is Kenneth G. Libbrecht, a professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). http://www.snowcrystals.com/

Being the current authority on the snow crystals, with many books published in the sphere, and notably even many stamps actually using his microscopic photographs, he says: Although science has made great advances in understanding the secrets of the Universe, there remains a bit of mystery still in these remarkable ice structures.

This puts a stop to the many question marks in my curious head around snow flakes. I think it's better to just appreciate the beauty of these hexagonal crystals and let the scientists take care of the rest mysteries!



By the way, it snowed this morning in Beijing, pretty big snow. It's kinda a new feeling seeing those flakes falling down when you have learnt something new about the snow crystals. But when I took out my magnifier and prepared to take a closer look on the flakes , it suddenly stopped. It was so big but gone all of a sudden, and it really surprised me.

Scientists now believe this is not true.


Don