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Micro World

How small is a human astrocyte?

A human astrocyte is about 15 µm across.

What is measured: star-shaped brain support cell, cell body diameter

Human Astrocyte (15 µm) drawn to scale beside a red blood cell (7.5 µm) and a cloud droplet (20 µm)
Drawn to scale, from left to right: Red blood cell (7.5 µm), Human Astrocyte (15 µm) and Cloud droplet (20 µm).

Compare

How big is that, really?

  • A little smaller than a cloud droplet
  • As wide as about 2 red blood cells side by side
  • About 4 would fit across a human hair
  • About 7 would fit across a human egg cell
  • About 7.5× the length of an E. coli bacterium

Learn

Facts about Human Astrocyte

Astrocytes help regulate the blood-brain barrier and support neurons with nutrients and structural scaffolding.

Source: Kandel, Principles of Neural Science; NCBI: Astrocyte biology

Micro World

NameSizeCompared with Human Astrocyte
Human Basophil12 µm0.8×
Human Dendritic Cell15 µmsame size
Trichomonas vaginalis15 µmsame size
Human Astrocyte15 µmthis page
Human Kupffer Cell15 µmsame size
Human Chondrocyte15 µmsame size
HeLa Cell20 µm1.3×
Cellulose Fiber20 µm1.3×
Human Erythroblast20 µm1.3×
Human Goblet Cell20 µm1.3×

Test your sense of scale

Which is bigger: Human Astrocyte or Human Basophil?

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