I always thought that the term „temperature“ describes the amount of movement in matter on a microscope scale. The movement of atoms. So how can there be a temperature in space if there is a vacuum?
In: Planetary Science
there is essentially no temperature in space as there is nearly no matter, but given how we define temperature that also means almost no matter = almost no movement which would mean the temperature is low.
why space is “cold” is mostly because if you put something into space it would simply radiate its energy outwards over time and cool down more and more.
interestingly we do have the exact opposite problem with the electronics we send into space, they produce waste heat while running and since theres no matter to interact with you can only rely on radiating that heat away.
thats why the ISS has large folding panels that kinda look like white solar panels, these are used to radiate the heat away from the station.
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