If the CMB is in all of space, how does the Earth not get cooked in it?

931 views

If the CMB is in all of space, how does the Earth not get cooked in it?

In: 255

15 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

So a slightly different way to answer than most: Yes. The earth is being continuously heated by the CMB and given no other mechanisms, the earth would turn back into a molten ball. But there are other mechanisms, the most important being the earth’s own radiation. The Earth radiates away heat as infrared light far faster than the CMB is heating it up, and if that was the only things affecting the earth we’d stabilize at a few Kelvin.

Of course, the sun dumps far more heat into the earth than the CMB does so we stabilize just under 300K which is rather cozy all in all.

You are viewing 1 out of 15 answers, click here to view all answers.