Snowball

The underlying physical process that makes snowballs possible is sintering, in which a solid mass is compacted while near the melting point.

[3] Scientific theories about snowball formation began with a lecture by Michael Faraday in 1842, examining the attractive forces between ice particles.

An influential early explanation by James Thomson invoked regelation, in which a solid is melted by pressure and then re-frozen.

It is commonly used as a housing for a light source, such as a candle or a Japanese stone garden lantern known as Yukimi Gata.

Snow lanterns are part of winter traditions in countries such as Sweden, Finland, and Norway, where they are created and lit during the Christmas season.