1 meter is the median size in the Universe

Human scale is about the middle of the range of logarithmic sizes.
Author

Stephen J. Mildenhall

Published

2025-03-12

Rank Object Size or Diameter Log Size, m
1 Neutrino cross-section diameter 24
2 Electron, quark 18
3 Proton 15
4 Atom (H, C, Au), water molecule 10
5 DNA molecule 9
6 Amino acid 9
8 Insulin (small protein) 8
7 Virus 8
9 Tintin (large human protein) 7
10 Bacteria cell 6
11 Average human cell 5
12 Rydberg atom (Ce) 4
13 Ant 3
14 Mouse 2
15 Human 0
middle!
16 Blue whale 1
17 Large tree 2
18 Container ship 3
19 Moon 6
20 Earth 7
21 Earth-Moon distance 8
22 Jupiter 8
23 Sun 9
24 Earth-Sun distance (1 AU) 11
25 Solar system 13
26 Oort Cloud 15
27 Nearest star (Proxima Centauri) 16
28 Milky Way diameter 21
29 Local Group (galaxy cluster) 23
30 Observable universe 26

Comparisons

Entities Sizes (m) Ratio
Atom : Nucleus : Electron (solar sys model) 1010 : 1015 : 1018 10,000x : 1,000x
Protein : Atom : Nucleus 108 : 1010 : 1015 100x : 10,000x
Cell : Protein : Atom 105 : 108 : 1010 1,000x : 100x
Person : Cell : Protein 100 : 105 : 108 10,000x: 1,000x
Football stadium : Football : Grain of sand 102 : 101 : 103 1,000x : 100x
City : Street : Person 104 : 101 : 100 1,000x : 10x
Earth to Moon : Earth : Moon 108 : 107 : 106 10x : 10x
Earth : Moon : City 107 : 106 : 104 10x : 100x
Earth-Sun distance : Sun : Earth 1011 : 109 : 107 100x : 100x
Solar System : Earth-Sun : Sun 1015 : 1011 : 109 10,000x : 100x
Galaxy : Solar System : Earth-Sun 1021 : 1015 : 1011 1Mx : 10,000x

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