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6 answers

You are correct, the temperature of "space" is around 2.7K. This comes from observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background, the radiation left over from the origin (Big Bang) of the universe. By observing the energy of these microwaves (first found by Penzias and Wilson, funny story), astrophysicists have realized that it almost perfectly fits a black body radiation curve whose characteristic temperature is 2.725K.

Black body radiation comes from heating matter such that it begins to give off light. The tiny coil in a light bulb does this; so does the coil in your oven. The sun and most stars can even be approximated as black body radiators. See the links below for more information.

2007-01-05 02:27:24 · answer #1 · answered by woocowgomu 3 · 1 0

That is probably the temperature of the fossil background cosmic radiation coming from the Big Bang...it is an equivalent temperature: it is the same temperature that a black body would have when radiating the background cosmic radiation. It is a calculated temperature.

2007-01-05 10:21:11 · answer #2 · answered by Mr. X 2 · 1 0

if you were able to put a thermometer in the deepest darkest part of space, for one it would take damn near forever to cool off, but other than that, the thermometer would read right around 2.7 kelvin, or -270 celsius, or -453 f. however ya wanna look at it. it would be about 3 degrees celsius above absolute zero due to microwave background radiation that is completely inescapable.

2007-01-05 10:23:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

There is no ambient temperature in space, or at least it is immeasurably low. The side of an object facing a radiating body like the sun, will be heated, while the shaded side will be freezing.
So the temperature of an object in space will depend upon its proximity to the sun or any other star.

2007-01-05 10:13:25 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1 2

In real space, with no energy traversing it (like light), it should be 0 kelvins as there is absolutely no energy in there. However, in the space right outside earth, it is probably a little higher (due to the unseen radiation).

2007-01-05 10:14:10 · answer #5 · answered by Simplex Spes 2 · 1 1

Temperature is the measure of the average activity level of the atoms within the volume you are measuring. While there are very few atoms in any given volume of space, their energy levels can be quite high resulting in a high average and thus a high temperature.

2007-01-05 10:12:25 · answer #6 · answered by lunatic 7 · 1 2

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