Technical Note XL
Levels of matter organization — a factual reference table from the smallest to the largest, grouped by mass decade
BeeTheory.com · Reference data · 21 May 2026
This note collects, with no theory attached, the characteristic mass, size and constituent count of structured matter across roughly 90 decades of mass, from the neutrino to the observable universe. Values are standard order-of-magnitude figures; sizes are characteristic radii or extents. Entries are grouped by log₁₀(mass / kg).
Total span: from ≈10⁻³⁷ kg (neutrino upper bound) to ≈1.5×10⁵³ kg (ordinary matter in the observable universe) — about 90 orders of magnitude in mass and 37 in size (10⁻¹⁵ m to 10²⁷ m).
Subatomic log m ≈ −37 to −26
| Object | Type | Mass (kg) | log m | Size (m) | Constituents |
|---|
| Neutrino (upper bound) | lepton | ~1×10⁻³⁷ | −37 | — | point |
| Electron | lepton | 9.11×10⁻³¹ | −30.0 | point | 1 |
| Proton | baryon | 1.673×10⁻²⁷ | −26.8 | 8.4×10⁻¹⁶ | 3 quarks |
| Neutron | baryon | 1.675×10⁻²⁷ | −26.8 | 8.0×10⁻¹⁶ | 3 quarks |
Nuclei, atoms, small molecules log m ≈ −26 to −24
| Object | Type | Mass (kg) | log m | Size (m) | Constituents |
|---|
| Hydrogen atom | atom | 1.674×10⁻²⁷ | −26.8 | 1.06×10⁻¹⁰ | 1 p + 1 e |
| Helium nucleus (α) | nucleus | 6.64×10⁻²⁷ | −26.2 | 1.7×10⁻¹⁵ | 4 nucleons |
| Water molecule | molecule | 2.99×10⁻²⁶ | −25.5 | 2.8×10⁻¹⁰ | 3 atoms |
| Iron-56 nucleus | nucleus | 9.29×10⁻²⁶ | −25.0 | 4.6×10⁻¹⁵ | 56 nucleons |
| Glucose | molecule | 2.99×10⁻²⁵ | −24.5 | 1.0×10⁻⁹ | 24 atoms |
| Uranium atom | atom | 3.95×10⁻²⁵ | −24.4 | 3.5×10⁻¹⁰ | 92 e, 238 nucl. |
Macromolecules & biological assemblies log m ≈ −22 to −16
| Object | Type | Mass (kg) | log m | Size (m) | Constituents |
|---|
| Protein (hemoglobin) | macromolecule | 1.07×10⁻²² | −22.0 | 6.5×10⁻⁹ | ~10⁴ atoms |
| Virus (SARS-CoV-2) | assembly | ~1×10⁻¹⁸ | −18.0 | 1.0×10⁻⁷ | ~10⁹ atoms |
| DNA (human chromosome) | macromolecule | ~1×10⁻¹⁶ | −16.0 | 4×10⁻² (unfolded) | ~10¹⁰ bp |
Cells & organisms log m ≈ −15 to +5
| Object | Type | Mass (kg) | log m | Size (m) | Constituents |
|---|
| Bacterium (E. coli) | cell | ~1×10⁻¹⁵ | −15.0 | 2×10⁻⁶ | ~10¹¹ atoms |
| Human cell | cell | ~1×10⁻¹² | −12.0 | 2×10⁻⁵ | ~10¹⁴ atoms |
| Ant | organism | ~3×10⁻⁶ | −5.5 | 5×10⁻³ | ~10²⁰ atoms |
| Human | organism | ~70 | +1.8 | 1.7 | ~7×10²⁷ atoms |
| Blue whale | organism | ~1.5×10⁵ | +5.2 | 25 | ~10³¹ atoms |
Planetary bodies log m ≈ +12 to +27
| Object | Type | Mass (kg) | log m | Size (m) | Constituents |
|---|
| Asteroid (1 km) | small body | ~1×10¹² | +12.0 | 1×10³ | — |
| Ceres | dwarf planet | 9.4×10²⁰ | +21.0 | 4.7×10⁵ | — |
| Moon | satellite | 7.35×10²² | +22.9 | 1.74×10⁶ | — |
| Mars | terrestrial planet | 6.42×10²³ | +23.8 | 3.39×10⁶ | — |
| Earth | terrestrial planet | 5.972×10²⁴ | +24.8 | 6.371×10⁶ | ~10⁵⁰ atoms |
| Jupiter | gas giant | 1.898×10²⁷ | +27.3 | 6.99×10⁷ | — |
Stars & compact objects log m ≈ +29 to +32
| Object | Type | Mass (kg) | log m | Size (m) | Constituents |
|---|
| Red dwarf (0.1 M☉) | star | ~2×10²⁹ | +29.3 | 1×10⁸ | — |
| White dwarf | compact object | ~1.4×10³⁰ | +30.1 | 7×10⁶ | — |
| Sun | star | 1.989×10³⁰ | +30.3 | 6.96×10⁸ | ~10⁵⁷ atoms |
| Neutron star | compact object | ~2.8×10³⁰ | +30.4 | 1.2×10⁴ | — |
| Stellar black hole | compact object | ~2×10³¹ | +31.3 | 3×10⁴ (R_s) | — |
| Massive star (20 M☉) | star | ~4×10³¹ | +31.6 | 1×10¹⁰ | — |
Stellar systems & galaxies log m ≈ +30 to +43
| Object | Type | Mass (kg) | log m | Size (m) | Constituents |
|---|
| Solar system | planetary system | 1.991×10³⁰ | +30.3 | 1.5×10¹³ | 1 star + planets |
| Globular cluster | star cluster | ~1×10³⁶ | +36.0 | 3×10¹⁷ | ~10⁶ stars |
| Supermassive BH (Sgr A*) | compact object | ~8×10³⁶ | +36.9 | 1×10¹³ (R_s) | ~4×10⁶ M☉ |
| Dwarf galaxy | galaxy | ~1×10³⁸ | +38.0 | 3×10¹⁹ | ~10⁸ stars |
| Milky Way (visible) | galaxy | ~1.3×10⁴¹ | +41.1 | 9×10²⁰ | ~10¹¹ stars |
| Giant galaxy (M87) | galaxy | ~1.2×10⁴³ | +43.1 | 1.2×10²² | ~10¹² stars |
Large-scale structure log m ≈ +42 to +53
| Object | Type | Mass (kg) | log m | Size (m) | Constituents |
|---|
| Local Group | galaxy group | ~4×10⁴² | +42.6 | 9×10²² (~3 Mpc) | ~50 galaxies |
| Virgo Cluster | galaxy cluster | ~2×10⁴⁵ | +45.3 | 4.6×10²² | ~10³ galaxies |
| Coma Cluster | galaxy cluster | ~2×10⁴⁵ | +45.3 | 8×10²² (~2.6 Mpc) | ~10³ galaxies |
| Laniakea | supercluster | ~2×10⁴⁷ | +47.3 | 1.6×10²⁴ | ~10⁵ galaxies |
| Galaxy filament / wall | filament | ~1×10⁴⁹ | +49.0 | 3×10²⁴ | — |
| Observable universe | universe | 1.5×10⁵³ | +53.2 | 8.8×10²⁶ | ~10⁸⁰ atoms |
Notes on the figures. Cluster and supercluster masses are dynamical/virial estimates and carry large uncertainties; the values for Coma (σ ≈ 1000 km/s, R_vir ≈ 2.6 Mpc) and the observable universe (ordinary matter only) follow current standard references. “Size” denotes a characteristic radius or extent, not a sharp boundary. For compact objects, R_s is the Schwarzschild radius. Constituent counts are order-of-magnitude.
