Hi Michael,
As I understand it the speed of light is only a constant (3x10^8 M/s^2) in a perfect vacuum. Using the old PV=nRT equation from college / H.S. chemistry classes you will find that once P (pressure)reaches "Zero" so does T (temperature). So from that I would say that temperature in and of itself has no direct effect on light. But temperature does have an effect on the substances that light passes through. The closest thing to a total vacuum in nature is in fact the empty space between galaxies. So it is only there that light can reach it's true speed. Also remember there is a world of difference between Absolute zero and the average background temperature in space of ~4 Kelvin. Per the article:
" Vacuums hundreds of trillions of times lower than the pressure of air at Earth's surface, and temperatures almost a billion times colder that that in interstellar space, are needed to produce the condensate. Temperatures must be lowered to within a few billionths of a degree of absolute zero" Now that is cold!
So you can see that interstellar space as a varitable sauna in comparison...
Hope this also helps!
Jack
As I understand it the speed of light is only a constant (3x10^8 M/s^2) in a perfect vacuum. Using the old PV=nRT equation from college / H.S. chemistry classes you will find that once P (pressure)reaches "Zero" so does T (temperature). So from that I would say that temperature in and of itself has no direct effect on light. But temperature does have an effect on the substances that light passes through. The closest thing to a total vacuum in nature is in fact the empty space between galaxies. So it is only there that light can reach it's true speed. Also remember there is a world of difference between Absolute zero and the average background temperature in space of ~4 Kelvin. Per the article:
" Vacuums hundreds of trillions of times lower than the pressure of air at Earth's surface, and temperatures almost a billion times colder that that in interstellar space, are needed to produce the condensate. Temperatures must be lowered to within a few billionths of a degree of absolute zero" Now that is cold!
So you can see that interstellar space as a varitable sauna in comparison...
Hope this also helps!
Jack
