Is space cold?

Question

What's the temperature of space?

Answer 1

Empty space itself cannot have a temperature, unless you mean some
abstruse question about quantum vacuums.

However, if you put a physical object into space, it will reach a
temperature that depends on how efficiently it absorbs and emits
radiation and on what heating sources are nearby. For example, an
object that both absorbs and emits perfectly, put at the Earth's
distance from the Sun, will reach a temperature of about 280 K or 7 C.
If it is shielded from the Sun but exposed to interplanetary and
interstellar radiation, it reaches about 5 K. If it were far from all
stars and galaxies, it would come into equilibrium with the microwave
background at about 2.7 K.

Spacecraft (and spacewalking astronauts) often run a bit hotter than
280 K because they generate internal energy. Arranging for them to
run at the desired temperature is an important aspect of design.

Some people also consider the "temperature" of high energy particles
like the solar wind or cosmic rays or the outer parts of the Earth's
atmosphere. These particles are not in thermal equilibrium, so it's
not correct to speak of a single temperature for them, but their
energies correspond to temperatures of thousands of kelvins or higher.
Generally speaking, these particles are too tenuous to affect the
temperature of macroscopic objects. There simply aren't enough
particles around to transfer much energy. (It's the same on the
ground. There are cosmic rays going through your body all the time,
but there aren't enough to keep you warm if the air is cold. The air
at the Earth's surface is dense enough to transfer plenty of heat to
or from your body.)

Answer 2

Space is a completely alien environment to what we are used to. The diffinition of cold or warm is completely different. In earth we say eg. alaska is cold because the average air tempreture is low. However in space there is no air. So heat is no conducted by convection which is the most common way heat is transfered on earth. In space heat is transfered by radiation. Theredore if you put something on space eg in orbit around the earth, it will become very hot when is at the sunlit side of the earth, however when it gets behind the earth it will radiate all the heat it had to outer space and will become very very cold.

To understand this remember what happens in clear nights of winter? Frost forms on the open grass even if the air temperature is not even near freezing 0. This happens because the grass is radiating all its heat to the eternal cold blackness of the night sky and becomes itself very cold.

Answer 3

Temperature is based on the movement of atomic particals. No atomic particals, there would be no temperature. If one were to try and measure the cold areas of space, the device would probably end up reading it's own temperature (which is what was happening with certain cold fussion experments) till it got so cold, the device itself would freeze and give no reading.

Answer 4

People believe that it is extremely cold what I mean is that space is the coldest place ever known. The farther from the sun the colder. It's allot colder than the north pole. Space is below 0 degrees. Astronauts have to dress very warm when the go to space.

Answer 5

It depends. Mostly cold, but near a star it will get very hot.

Answer 6

Its low enoug to freeze your *ss off!! Literally!! I believe it is like 250 degrees below zero farenheit!!

Answer 7

if it is empty space it is cold

Answer 8

i wouldn't know what the temperature is, but apparantly, it's freezing out there...

Answer 9

yes until you get to a star or something like that

Answer 10

The answer you are looking for is "absolute zero." (Or very close to it.)