Frost on a velux shaped as fractals

Velux Fractal Season

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When the conditions are just right fractals form on veluxes and they are beautiful. It requires the air to be cool enough for ice to form, but as thin layers, rather than thick. If the wind is just right then you end up with patterns such as the one below.

Fractal frost on a Velux

This morning all of the windows had a nice pattern so I photographed them twice. The first time when they were lit by indirect sunlight and the second time when they were. With direct sunlight you can see the structures more clearly.

If you wait too long though the patterns melt and disappear and you need to wait until the next time the conditions are just right.

This is the first frost of the season. We will have many more such sights in the days and weeks to come.

A fractal pattern with a point of origin branching out

In the pattern above I like that it has a focus, and that the branches grow out of there to create a network of patterns as we see above. It’s entirely different to the other pattern I shared and just as interesting to look at.

The final pattern starts in the lower left corner and branches out, upwards and to the right.

The final pattern is another beautiful example of why good insulation is nice. With good insulation the windows are cool enough for ice to form, without freezing the people who are indoors. It also means that the heat from within the building is not escaping outwards and being wasted. This provides us with a good reason to have double or triple glazing.

And finally

It’s nice to see how different every window was. Every window is completely different from the next, so each pattern is interesting enough to study, to remark on the patterns and shapes that have formed.

Do you look at your windows and fractal patterns? Cars can provide us with the same pleasure.