Why is Space black? What does nothingness look like?

a reply to: mOjOm

Don't over think it. The universe is expanding there is nothing outside the universe. As to why space is black that's because we can't see into the infrared spectrum. As the universe expands the light gets shifted below our visable light. If we could see all light you would be surprised how bright everything is. And how there is no direction without light.

The microwave background radiation is all around us everywhere we look. This is how we know the universe is indeed expanding.

a reply to: game over man

the simplified answer = space = black because there is nothing out there that reflects a visible light wavelength back to the observer

White is a reflection of all colors, black is all colors.

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

Floating purple dots

According to the T.V. series "Dark Matter", nothing looks mostly white with a little bit of blue.

I put my faith in science fiction television.

I get the impression from some of these posts that the US school system no longer teaches actual science.

White is a reflection of all colors, black is all colors.

Brilliant. The crayola experiment.

The answer can be found at the end....of the never ending story...

a reply to: theantediluvian

It almost hurts to look at.
Something disturbing almost about it.
?

As an artist ive learned a few interesting things about 'colors' over the years.
Black, in fact, IS NOT a color. Black is THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT. So in a sense, nothingness, is black.

Space is black because there is not much for light to reflect on.
a reply to: game over man

a reply to: mOjOm

Right we can't see it with our eyes, so we see black. Do you think the Universe could work if what we see isn't black but another color?

a reply to: theantediluvian

You can make black paint...so black is not the absence of color, black is a color. So your space that is black maybe is filled with colors in a different dimension and from our perspective we only see black?

a reply to: JoshuaCox

Rephrase it anyway you want we see blackness. So why is it like that in terms of pre big bang?

a reply to: Astyanax

I know trust me I completely understand. I just want a more serious answer of why space is black besides it's the absence of light.

During the big bang, essentially any color could have been chosen to represent anything. There was nothing before. So either God chose what colors would represent what and this thread is exploring can we see intelligent design by the Space being black? Specifically.

Or, how would the colors come from nothingness and naturally and instantly be the color that they are, with no human's to observe it? How do you explain that?

originally posted by: game over man
a reply to: mOjOm

Right we can't see it with our eyes, so we see black. Do you think the Universe could work if what we see isn't black but another color?

What do you mean it couldn't work???

I don't think the universe relies on us being able to see it as a certain color for it to work. Color is just a certain frequency of visible light which is really just a small area of the spectrum of EM waves.

You'll have to elaborate more on what you mean for me to understand what you're saying.

originally posted by: game over man
I have never thought to ever come up with an explanation as to why is Space black until today. As I was at the beach today, my cellphone, t shirt, and sunglasses are all black. I thought they are going to get hot being out in the sun so reluctantly I put them in a white plastic bag I got from buying sunblock. Then I was reminded of how black absorbs light and white reflects it, which for some reason I started thinking of outer space.

Space is expanding and light is coming towards it. Maybe for the big bang to work, space has to be black for light to come towards it and to keep expanding. Can you imagine, how could the big bang work if space was a different color?

You can say there is nothing there so it's black by default, but before the big bang, how could there be darkness or black, if there is nothing? I don't think we are capable of imagining what nothingness looks like. After the big bang, you have darkness and black space, not before the big bang when there was nothing. The color of nothingness is incomprehensible.

So either someone or something created the Universe and the fact that space is black is proof of this.

Or light and black are somehow related and or even one in the same. Maybe black and light connect and are clearly observed in some higher dimension we cannot see.

Is it possible there is a real reason why Space is black?

What do you think?

Makes me wonder when we are out in the black-deepness of dark space...that looking back? Why are all the planets and stars colorful?

Perspective...in place, space and time. MS

originally posted by: mOjOm

originally posted by: game over man
a reply to: mOjOm

Right we can't see it with our eyes, so we see black. Do you think the Universe could work if what we see isn't black but another color?

What do you mean it couldn't work???

I don't think the universe relies on us being able to see it as a certain color for it to work. Color is just a certain frequency of visible light which is really just a small area of the spectrum of EM waves.

You'll have to elaborate more on what you mean for me to understand what you're saying.

The Universe does require us to look at it as a certain color so it works. That is exactly how it works. How convenient....

a reply to: mysterioustranger

I'm exploring another reason why space is black besides the absence of light such as something to do with absorbing light and heat.

In fact, if space is not truly black, it's only what our eyes record and send to our brain, then what color is space? If space really is black then could there be other structural reasons that would benefit the structure of the Universe for space to be black besides what human beings observe with their eyes?

a reply to: game over man

Your question is a contradiction: You're asking what the color of space is, yet at the same time are talking about it outside the visible spectrum.

Space is filled with various forms of energy: visible light and electromagnetic energy that is outside the spectrum of visible light.

Space appears black to our eyes and cameras that record visible light. It appears not black depending on what instrument you are using and what you are recording. Say various levels of heat, in order to see a visible mapping of it, requires those levels to be represented by a false color map. To our eyes it looks black, but the false color map can show it in various degrees using colors that are not really there.

Just like a radar map that shows rain: we use color to represent the density of that rain falling. Light green for very light rain, to yellow, orange and red for very heavy rain. The rain itself does not actually look like that to our eyes, but the false color image of the radar returns allows us to see the density of the rain in more detail.

To answer your question in your OP: Space looks black to our eyes and visible light cameras, due to the lack of visible light in that area, or light too dim for our eyes to register. It's not that there is always something there to absorb the light (though that can happen with dark nebulae), but simply because there is a lack of light there for us to see (turning off the lights in a room with no windows will give you the same result).

As for what color would it be if we could see beyond the visible spectrum: No answer....because we don't have colors that we can see outside the visible spectrum......unless we assign FALSE colors to it.

It's the same as trying to describe colors to a person that has been blind their entire life.