When it comes to space, astronomers love a good debate. There are many things to debate when it comes to the universe. There are so many theories about so many different things out there. One argument seems to have been settled. The coldest known place in the universe isn’t buried inside some far-off galaxy or hiding in a black hole’s shadow.
The coldest spot in the universe has been found by astronomers
You’d think space itself would be cold enough, but this place takes things further. The background temperature of space hovers around 2.7 Kelvin. There is an hourglass-shaped cloud that floats 5,000 light-years away. It’s found inside the Boomerang Nebula. The temperature there is about 1 Kelvin.
How a cloud in the Boomerang Nebula is the coldest place in the universe
This isn’t some fossil from the dawn of time. Something inside the nebula is driving the temperature down, almost on purpose. There’s a dying star at the center, blasting gas at high speeds. It cools itself a bit like how a can of compressed air gets frosty when you spray it, just on a much larger scale.
The whole cloud becomes this cosmic freezer. When astronomers first measured the temperature, they couldn’t believe it. Nothing else in the universe naturally gets that cold.
How scientists were able to get a better look at the Boomerang Nebula to find this cold spot
The Boomerang Nebula looked like a blur in old telescope images. But now, new technology, telescopes, and radio data have helped scientists see its real shape. It’s a stretched-out shape that looks like a wing.
Gas streams away from it at high speeds.
The rapid expansion is how it gets cold at this spot in the universe. The more the cloud spreads, the colder it gets, dipping far below the usual temperatures in the universe. This has puzzled experts who are used to seeing different temperatures when they investigate space.
Why this cold spot in the Boomerang Nebula is puzzling to astronomers
Recent maps have shown that some pockets inside the nebula are even colder than the rest. Pockets inside a cloud that’s already nearly frozen solid. It is a cosmic frost zone, an area where a star is dying so violently that it’s doing things to physics around it.
Light bounces through the super-cold gas in odd ways. The shape twists and turns, and astronomers puzzle over the colors they see. They’re used to heat ruling the universe, not cold. But at this spot, things are very different.
Why this cold spot in the Boomerang Nebula matters
Space isn’t as peaceful as it might seem. But usually, there’s always a little leftover heat, some radiation, or dust. Some kind of energy to keep things from dropping to absolute zero. In nature, nothing ever quite sits still. The Boomerang Nebula seems to cheat this notion.
It’s expanding so fast that it outruns the heat. Every bit of gas hurled outward pulls energy away, leaving a hollow that gets colder and colder. It’s like a star exhaling its last breath and freezing everything in the process. No other place in the universe pulls off this trick, and that’s why it holds the record.
The star at the center is on its way to becoming a white dwarf, but for now, it’s in that chaotic middle ground. Outer layers are flung off, and a cold and icy shell’s left behind. Eventually, the expansion will stop, the gas will warm up and the frost zone will disappear. But right now, it’s the coldest spot we’ve ever found.