The sun warms up our planet but space is cold. If I lit a candle and stood 20 feet away, I could see the light but not feel the warmth. So, why do we feel warmth from the sun but space isn’t warmed by it?
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A lot of things in space are hot. A spec of space dust can be a few thousand degrees. However the spec of dust is nothing in comparison to the amount of space that is simply empty. Being that empty space holds no heat, it seems cold. Add in the fact that most organic matter released into space will have its water content rapidly and often violently become water vapor and it looks different. The water vapor escaping pulls in a tiny big of heat to make the change, cooling the rest of the object it left behind. Enough vapor exiting an object can freeze it solid, making it appear space is cold. However if they object is in direct star light, it will eventually heat up to some very high temperatures. Once the water has all vaporized, there will be fewer ways to cool down this chunk of matter.
Asteroids and such are usually far away from stars, and when they get close have a habit if creating water vapor trails (at least if they contain ice).
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