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How large are the meteoroids that produce ordinary visible meteors?

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Meteor and meteoroid The Cabin Creek meteorite, an iron (nickel-iron alloy) meteorite that was observed to fall in northwestern Arkansas on March 27, 1886. Its characteristic pattern of “thumbprint” dimples, or regmaglypts, is the result of melting and consequent ablation of its surface as it traveled through the atmosphere. The meteorite is likely a fragment of one of the M class asteroids, which show significant nickel-iron in their surface material.

A typical visible meteor is produced by a meteoroid approximately the size of a grain of sand.1

Meteoroids smaller than about 500 micrometres (0.02 inch) are generally too faint to be seen with the naked eye, though they can be observed using binoculars, telescopes, or radar. Conversely, brighter meteors—which can range in brilliance from that of Venus to greater than that of the full Moon—are produced by larger meteoroids with masses ranging from several grams up to about one ton, corresponding to objects that are centimetre- to metre-sized.1