Key facts
- Category
- Meteoritic material
- Object class
- Micrometeorite
- Scale fact
- 200 µmdiameter
Micrometeorite
200 µmdiameter
Details
A micrometeorite is a tiny grain of extraterrestrial material recovered after it survives passage through Earth's atmosphere. NASA estimates that about 44 metric tons of meteoritic material enter the atmosphere each day, although much of that material melts or vaporizes on the way down.
Atmospheric entry often melts part or all of a micrometeoroid, producing rounded grains and changing their minerals before they reach the surface. Recovered micrometeorites therefore record both their extraterrestrial source material and the heating they experienced on the way down.
Links
- Wikipedia
- Micrometeorite on Wikipedia
Size neighbors
Objects near Micrometeorite on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, Micrometeorite falls between Presolar SiC Grain and Chondrule. The band uses nearby Meteoritic material records.
Shared physical scale
2.06m
Sources
References for Micrometeorite
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
- Micrometeorite — Wikipedia
- Visual reference: Wikimedia Commons (Nicola Angeli / MUSE, CC BY-SA 3.0)
Continue with nearby objects or open the full scale.
About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.