The sun shines in space as it does on Earth Yet it is freezing cold in space what causes the difference?

Answer 1

To understand the difference between relative temperature in space and on Earth, one must understand what causes temperature. Temperature is the amount of relative heat something has, heat being essentially the movement of energy in something. Earth is warm relative to the surrounding space because Earth represents a comparatively dense collection of matter. Earth is warm because its matter absorbs the energy from the sunlight (not in the sense that plants do for photosynthesis, but in the sense that a sunny beach is hotter in the light than in the shade). Space is just that, relatively empty, with a few particles here and there. There is little matter in space to absorb photons (light) from the sun, so there is little in space to heat up. It is only cold in that because there is nothing, there is no insulation, so anything subjected to space loses heat usually much faster than it gains heat.

If space has a "temperature" it is the pervasive background radiation coming from all directions known as the Cosmic Microwave Background, or CMB. This radiation is the "echo" of the Big Bang, the remnant of the hot inflationary origin of our universe. It's only 2.7 degrees kelvin -- 2.7 degrees above absolute zero. A passive object far from any star (between galaxies, say) would reach an equilibrium temperature of about 2.7 K.

Answer 2

The temperature of "space" is measured as degrees Kelvin above absolute zero. The background radiation permeating space is about 2,8 K. Absolute zero is −459.67° Fahrenheit or −273.15° Celsius.

Only in advanced laboratories in a few places on Earth can scientists approach absolute zero.

Space (far form stars and if there were matter to measure the heat of) is colder than on Earth.

But a spaceship orbiting Earth gets rather hot on the side that is illuminated by the Sun (about 1500 Watts per square meter is the heat influx this far from the Sun). The side of that same spaceship away from the Sun or in the Earths shadow gets pretty cold. (A part of the Moon that is almost constantly in shadow has a temperature of about 28 K.

Answer 3

The reason it is cold in space is because there is no atmosphere to trap heat like there is on Earth. On Earth, the atmosphere acts as a blanket that keeps the heat from the sun in, while in space, there is nothing to hold onto that heat. So even though the sun shines in space, without an atmosphere to retain the heat, objects in space can quickly become very cold.

Answer 4

Earth's atmosphere holds in the Sun's heat, while also generating it's own from the core and mantle. Space can't hold heat

Answer 5

the sun shines at the same luminosity (brightness) at all times, we can see the sun in pictures easily becouse, scientist use special filters to look at the sun

Answer 6

Because htere is no air

Answer 7

cuz the son saidd gimme that heat