What Color is Outer Space? - Smore Science Magazine (2024)

When we look at the sky on a clear night, it appears mostly black with tiny dots of white, which are stars. But why is space black? And are there colors in outer space?

However, the color of space is somewhat beige from all the light that stars and other celestial bodies impart. This being said, the beige in space is so negligible, that our eyes perceive the color of space as black. That’s because space is a vast emptiness without air or atmosphere to scatter light. When there’s no medium for light to bounce off, we see blackness.

If we were able to concentrate all stars and celestial bodies in one place, the color would have been beige, and not white. Let’s see how stars impart color.

However, objects in space, like stars, planets, and galaxies, do have colors. A star’s color tells us about its temperature. For example:

• Blue stars are the hottest, with temperatures around 30,000°C.
• Yellow stars, like our Sun, are medium hot, around 5,500°C.
• Red stars are cooler, about 3,000°C.

The beautiful images of galaxies and nebulas that you might have seen are often colored using filters to help scientists understand different types of light. These images combine visible light (what our eyes can see) with infrared or ultraviolet light, which our eyes can’t see. So, while space is black, the objects in it can shine in a range of beautiful colors depending on their nature and the tools we use to view them.

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