Bisnis.com, JAKARTA – Outer space is very, very cold. The basic temperature of space is 2.7 kelvins—minus 454.81 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 270.45 degrees Celsius, which is almost above absolute zero, the point at which molecular motion stops.
But this temperature is not constant throughout the solar system. So-called “empty” space isn’t actually empty — much colder than a planet, moon, or asteroid, for example, because (practically) nothing absorbs energy coming from the sun.
So, excluding the usual “empty” space, what is the coldest place in the solar system? And how does it compare to the temperature on Earth?
So, what is the coldest place in the solar system, at least according to current data? Pluto, perhaps, given its distance from the sun?
In fact, the coldest places may be closer to Earth.
In 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA’s robotic spacecraft designed to help scientists better understand conditions on the moon, presented data showing that a “shadow crater” at the moon’s south pole could be the coldest place in the solar system.
This theory was later strengthened by graduate student Patrick O’Brien and his advisor Shane Byrne, planetary researchers at the University of Arizona. During a lecture at the 2022 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, O’Brien and Byrne suggested that “double-shadowed” lunar craters could indeed be “the coldest location in the solar system”.
According to O’Brien and Byrne, a crater can be considered double shaded if it is “shielded not only from direct sunlight but also from secondary heating sources,” such as “reflected solar radiation from nearby illuminated areas as well as thermal radiation emitted.” from a warm surface. that.”
Pollacco added that the “double-shaded” crater “has an rim that is high enough that sunlight never reaches the bottom of the crater,” which is why it is so cold.
O’Brien and Byrne’s research shows that, given that these “permanent shadow areas” have been “protected” from sunlight for billions of years, their craters could contain “micro cold traps” containing “not only water ice, but much more” . volatile compounds and elements,” such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and argon.
According to O’Brien and Byrne, the crater is estimated to have a temperature of about 25 kelvins (minus 414.67 F, or minus 248.15 C), but could be colder.
Crawford was convinced of the veracity of the research. “I believe this is the coldest temperature in the inner solar system [dari Merkurius ke Mars] and also colder than Pluto’s estimated average surface temperature,” he said.
Pluto’s average surface temperature, for context, is 40.4 kelvin, which is minus 386.95 F or minus 232.75 C, according to NASA.
However, these double-shaded moon craters may not be as cold as the Oort cloud, a debris shell of icy space that lies far beyond Neptune’s orbit, Crawford said. The difference depends, he says, on whether we include the Oort cloud when discussing the solar system.
The Oort cloud is at once considered the “furthest region of our solar system” by NASA, but also “outside” our solar system. This lack of clarity means it is sometimes considered part of the solar system, and elsewhere defined as the boundary between our solar system and interstellar space. The Oort cloud is thought to be only “loosely bound to the solar system”, according to ThePlanets.org.
According to Northwestern University in Illinois, temperatures in the Oort cloud can be as cold as 5 kelvins (minus 450.67 F or minus 268.15 C), which would be much colder than temperatures found on our moon.
However, if we don’t include the Oort cloud, the coldest point in the solar system is very likely to be found in our nearest neighbour.
On Earth, even the coldest and most excruciating temperatures in Antarctica are much warmer than lunar craters or the Oort cloud. The coldest terrestrial temperature ever recorded — registered on July 21, 1983, at Russia’s Vostok research station in Antarctica — was minus 128.6 F (minus 89.2 C), according to the World Meteorological Organization’s Extreme Weather & Climate Archive.
However, scientists have created artificially lower temperatures than those that occur naturally on Earth, in lunar craters or even in the Oort cloud. Last year, a team of German researchers broke the record for the coldest temperature achieved in a laboratory: minus 459.67 F (minus 273.15 C), which they achieved by “dropping magnetic gas 393 feet (120 meters) down a tower”.
But when it comes to naturally occurring temperatures, our darkest and darkest lunar recess seems very likely to boast the lowest temperatures in our solar system — depending of course on how you choose to classify the Oort cloud.
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