Does it get dark in space?
Mia Horton
Updated on January 14, 2026
In space or on the Moon there is no atmosphere to scatter light. The light from the sun travels a straight line without scattering and all the colors stay together. Looking toward the sun we thus see a brilliant white light while looking away we would see only the darkness of empty space.
Is it always dark in space?
If you get away from city lights and look up, the sky between the stars appears very dark indeed. Above the Earth's atmosphere, outer space dims even further, fading to an inky pitch-black. And yet even there, space isn't absolutely black.Is it dark in space for astronauts?
Because space is a near-perfect vacuum — meaning it has exceedingly few particles — there's virtually nothing in the space between stars and planets to scatter light to our eyes. And with no light reaching the eyes, they see black.Is there day and night in space?
During a mission on the ISS, the environmental day does not match the biological day. The ISS orbits Earth every 90 minutes. So, instead of receiving 12 hours of light followed by 12 hours of dark, astronauts experience 45 minutes of light followed by 45 minutes of dark. That's 16 sunrises and sunsets each day!Is it pitch dark in space?
As they left Earth's atmosphere, they were greeted by the inky darkness of space. Or were they? According to a new study scheduled to be published in The Astrophysical Journal, scientists have determined that outer space isn't pitch black at all — it's actually filled with light.Why There Is Light on Earth But Not in Space
Is space completely silent?
OK so wait, is space completely silent or not? While space is more silent than you could ever imagine, it's not completely devoid of sound. Sound waves cannot travel through space, but there are some infinitesimally small regions where sound can exist, under very specific conditions.What does space smell like?
A succession of astronauts have described the smell as '… a rather pleasant metallic sensation ... [like] ... sweet-smelling welding fumes', 'burning metal', 'a distinct odour of ozone, an acrid smell', 'walnuts and brake pads', 'gunpowder' and even 'burnt almond cookie'.Do you age slower in space?
Scientists have recently observed for the first time that, on an epigenetic level, astronauts age more slowly during long-term simulated space travel than they would have if their feet had been planted on Planet Earth.Do we age faster in space?
"The combined effect of greater damage and decreased replication accuracy could lead to premature aging in astronauts." This story was provided to Newsweek by Zenger News.How cold is space?
The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite has refined temperature measurements taken way back in 1964. According to data from the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, the temperature of space is 2.725K (2.725 degrees above absolute zero).How do astronauts sleep?
The astronauts sleep in small sleeping compartments by using sleeping bags. They strap their bodies loosely so that their bodies will not float around. In the zero-gravity world, there are no "ups" or "downs".Can you hear sound in space?
No, you cannot hear any sounds in near-empty regions of space. Sound travels through the vibration of atoms and molecules in a medium (such as air or water). In space, where there is no air, sound has no way to travel.Why is it black in space?
Since there is virtually nothing in space to scatter or re-radiate the light to our eye, we see no part of the light and the sky appears to be black.Is space actually colorful?
Galaxies are not actually as colorful as we think they areSpace emits a range of wavelengths of light, some we can see others we can't. The majority of emissions are of red and blue light which are easily visible to the human eye but there are also UV, X-rays and gamma rays which are invisible.