Key facts
- Category
- Particles
- Object class
- Atomic nucleus
- Scale fact
- 15 fmdiameter
- Composition
- 94 protons, 150 neutrons
Plutonium-244 Nucleus
15 fmdiameter
Visual creditscaleofspace.org / CC BY-NC 4.0
Details
The plutonium-244 nucleus is the heavy atomic nucleus of a long-lived plutonium isotope, built from 94 protons and 150 neutrons. It was forged in rare neutron-rich explosions before the Solar System formed, and its 81.3-million-year half-life made it an important extinct radionuclide in early Solar System history.
Plutonium-244 is produced by rapid neutron capture, but the astrophysical mix of events that supplied it to the early Solar System remains uncertain. Its roughly 81-million-year half-life was long enough for some nuclei to enter the material that formed meteorites and planets.
Almost all of that original inventory has since decayed. Daughter products and fission tracks preserved in ancient solids let researchers infer that plutonium-244 was once present, turning an extinct radionuclide into evidence about nucleosynthesis before the Solar System formed.
Links
- Editorial guides
- Wikipedia
- Plutonium-244 Nucleus on Wikipedia
- Preset views
Size neighbors
Objects near Plutonium-244 Nucleus on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, Plutonium-244 Nucleus falls between Neutron and Hydrogen Atom. The band uses nearby Particles records.
Shared physical scale
11.5fm
Sources
References for Plutonium-244 Nucleus
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.
- Plutonium-244 Nucleus — Wikipedia
- Visual: scaleofspace.org / CC BY-NC 4.0
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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.