What is the temperature in space? It's a far more complicated question than it seems. Because space is considered a vacuum, which means it's empty, it has no temperature. But the objects traveling within space do. If somehow you could stick a thermometer into space, the temperature on the thermometer wouldn't be the temperature of space, it would be the temperature of the thermometer itself.
Image via nasa.gov.
The International Space Station (ISS) has many different temperatures in various locations that are constantly changing, and there are many factors responsible for these varying temperatures. One is because the ISS is made of different materials, and it's also constantly moving between sunlight and darkness in space. The ISS orbits Earth once every 90 minutes with a “day” and “night” occurring during each orbit, affecting the temperature.
Objects in space experience extreme temperature changes compared to what they would on Earth. For example, the spacesuits astronauts wear on spacewalks can have a difference in temperature of up to 275 degrees F from one side to the other. This change can occur if an astronaut has one side of the suit facing the sun and the other side facing the darkness of space.
Because it's a vacuum, the temperatures in space vary depending on what's nearby in a certain area. In a void between planets, stars, and galaxies, the temperature in deep space, with absolutely no light or heat sources, is slightly above absolute zero, at an average of 2.725 Kelvin (-454.72 degrees F or -270.4 degrees C). According to astrophysicists at NASA, the average temperature would be 2.725 Kelvin because of the cosmic microwave background radiation, a form of electromagnetic radiation that fills the universe. No matter where you go, you can't escape it, as it's always there.
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