Space tan

[b13thy]

Is it warm in space?

[bobjim1705]

Technically, warmth is a measure of the activity of molecules or atoms in a substance.

Given that space is a vacuum, it doesn't actually have a temperature.
However, you can measure the temperature of certain objects in space, such as thermometers. Even then, the temperature would range from a massive 6000K at the surface of the sun to around 40K at the edges of the solar system.

(Celsius = Kelvin - 273)

[Loosehead]

Space has an average temperature of only a few degrees above 0 kelvin so although there are warm/hot places mostly, no it is not warm in space.

[Ralph]

As regards your "space tan", due to the lack of an atmosphere, there is nothing to absorb the ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun or other stars. So if it were possible, you could get a tan, or more precisely, severe sun burn, in record time (15 seconds?).

[joefloggs]

Dude, the last person was right. You don't get a tan from sitting infront of a fire. You get a tan because UV light from the sun damages your skin and it compensates by increasing the amount of melanonin in your skin. Your next door neighbour Aziz probably has more melanonin in his skin which gives him that 'brown' complextion. It also means he doesn't have to use Factor 15 sun lotion when he goes abroad. Melanonin is the bodies natural defense against UV. Your mate at work, the one with the all year tan aint doing herself any favours by going to the suntan shop, she's continually exposing herself to harmfull UV rays which may lead to Skin Cancer later in Life.

Going back to your question, if you go into space unprotected, you'd explode, freeze to death and get fried buy the UV rays from our sun and all the stars in the universe.

[b13thy]

wot i really wanted to know is this- its warm on our planet right,  so if i go in space i'll be closer to the sun so i assume it must be warmer as i am closer. wrong or right? (please don't go really technical cos i don't understand)

[joefloggs]

b13thy

The reason why Earth is warm is because we have an atmosphere. Our atmosphere traps heat from the sun and keeps our planet at a livable temperature - kinda like a greenhouse. Without our atmosphere our earth would be much much colder, and we wouldn't be able to live.

If you were to leave earth, you would freeze because space has a temperature close to absoulte zero (the coldest temperature).