How could outer-space be a vacuum if its cold. Something needs to be cold to be cold. COLD MATTER is COLD in space.

Light according to modern science loses its brilliance when its heat is absorbed, like your walls, and floors, ceiling, curtains. How then, could light travel with its warm photons all scattering hither tither in the cold outer-space not lose their heat or their illumination being absorbed by that cold matter?

Educate me, oh brilliant arm-chair savants.

Keep your tin hats on.

Isn't it the other way around?
Something needs to be warm for it to be warm (energy produces warmth, no energy and it stays cold)?

Obviously space isn't a perfect vacuum otherwise we wouldn't be here but a vacuum it certainly is hence why its temperature is nearly absolute zero.

space is not a vacuum..it is a near vacuum

You are comparing light to matter when in fact light is NOT matter. Cold or Hot is simply a direct effect of the vibration or movement of atoms within matter. Light is not matter. Light is a part of the Electromagnetic spectrum. Light is a wave. That is why it does not disappear in space.

In reality, all light reaches us from everywhere in the universe. The problem is measuring those minuscule amounts of light. Our telescopes are not powerful enough to look to the very outer reaches of the universe.

Finally, you must realize that the light we see coming from far off stars is actually light that is millions or billions of years old. What you are seeing when you look into the night sky is a snapshot of the universe at a state millions of years ago. Millions of years into the future, our ancestors will look up and see a snapshot of what the universe was like when we were around.

It's all relative.

Something needs to be warm for it to be warm - like summer air.

Something needs to be warm for it to be warm -like winter air.

You think that's cold air you're breathing?


When people knew earth was flat they were here living as we are living today still in a perfectly flat spherical world.

Not if its cold.

The OP is pretty keen on that.

So then you also believe outer-space isn't a vacuum.

"Cold or Hot is movement of atoms within matter." Thank-you.

Fire needs ccoling as well.

Outer space is so cold it will make your your blood boil...

Yeah, there needs to be matter in place to measure a temperature.

haha thats EASY sorry for caps! vaccum is cold! but it has not temperature because it is a vaccum only once one inserts a messuring device then the vaccum interacts with the matter of the device and inflict its coldness upon it!

You mean like the sun?

Isn't that the blue ether we see during the daytime there for?

Yes but an abscence of matter results in a state known at Absolute zero, in which there is no particle movement whatsoever.

Space is not a complete vacuum, but a near vacuum. There is some matter in space itself, and there is no doubt that some of that matter interrupts light, but there is so little matter and so much light that the interference is almost nill.

That's like saying that a 2 inch thick fish tank absorbs all the light from a massive 200000k lamp behind it. No doubt some of that light get's redirected, but how much of it is really absorbed... not much.

That's not even taking into consideration theories such as dark matter, or the multiverse.

That's what I figured.

You can't measure nothing.

Not with a calculator, a thermometer, a ruler.

Here's where this line of reasoning is completely wrong. The absence of matter cannot be cold at this point. Absolute zero would carry a temperature of neither cold or hot because it would contain ZERO atoms (particles) to carry any heat or cold.

Outer-space would be just,,,,okay as far a temp is concerned.

Go there with T-shirt and scubagear.

You lose heat from ways besides Conduction. Some heat is lost through Radiation (This is why you can be seen with Thermal Vision.

That said, you are right, space is a near vacuum so it is not as cold as say, Antarctica, as I recall. There is still some matter though, especially around the atmosphere of planets and the moon.

A body can emit it's energy by radiation (thermal radiation), means you don't need another body to lose temperature.
So just put a thermometer into empty space and it will become colder and colder, simply by emitting thermal radiation.

No, cold is nothing more than the ~absence of heat~ energy, which may be "transferred from one body to another" (through mass, in other words).

[link to en.wikipedia.org]

Heat is just ~ONE~ OF THE FORMS of energy: not energy itself.

Evaporation and such.


You mind my asking but what exactly is Radiation?


You've been to space?
How was that like?


Yeah, its kinda neat that a "BIG NOTHING" supports the earth, sun, moon and stars.

You have to admit.

The thermometer has to register "something" to give a cold or hot reading.

When the thermometer is placed into a void where there is NOTHING to register what reading would it give? Nothing. Not hot or cold because there is nothing to measure.

How's Mars rover doing?

Now you pretend to be silly to avoid your defeat.

Of course you exactly know what radiation is, you can see it with your eyes.

That's right!

If cold is the absence of heat then it should be ify ify in Space if its a vacuum because there's no matter(particles) to either heat or be cold due to heat being absent.

No really, elaborate.

I need to know what Radiation really is.

Define it to me like I was 9 years old. Use small words.

There is always a small amount of radiation everywhere in space (coming e.g. from stars). Therefore it's impossible for the thermometer to reach absolute zero.

And this is what the thermometer in empty space registers:
A very tiny amount of radiation which keeps the temperature of the thermometer a bit over absolute zero. And this is damn cold!

I guess you try to start a philosopical debate if perception is physical real or only a imagination of a lonely awareness.

The thing is: 30 mins ago your world picture was a simple mechanical thing with only particles and no radiation.
Now you got corrected and have to accept that not only particles exist but also radiation. You don't like to be corrected and behave infantile with dumb questions.

Are small amounts of Radiation hot or cold?


Ah, okay, so radiation is Cold.

Got it, yes of course, small amounts of Radiation being cold would result in the thermometer reading a bit over absolute zero. Thanks, its perfectly clear now. Space is cold due to small amounts of Radiation emitting from a cold source yet to be determined.

You're about to sink hard friend.

Choose your next words carefully.

Just define to the best of your intellectual capacity what Radiation is.

That is all.