• Question: What temperature is it in space?

    Asked by leona633 to Amy, Drew, Julia, Kimberley, Sara on 20 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Drew Rae

      Drew Rae answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      Hi Leona. Temperature is the amount that molecules are vibrating. In space there are very few molecules, so technically it is very cold. This is a bit misleading though, because even in a vacuum you can lose heat by radiating it away, and you can gain heat by absorbing radiated heat. That is why spacesuits are reflective – you can overheat in space if you are in direct sunlight.

    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      As Drew says it is technically very cold….but of course it depends which part of space you are in – if you are beside the sun it will be HOT!!! 🙂

    • Photo: Julia Griffen

      Julia Griffen answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      -273 DegC

    • Photo: Sara Imari Walker

      Sara Imari Walker answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      Hi leona! Great question. The temperature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation (the photon bath we are swimming in that is left over from the big bang) is 2.7 Kelvin! That’s pretty cold! I think most people would cite this as the temperature of the universe (since the CMB is EVERYWHERE).

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