nine_k 21 hours ago

The other side would radiate, losing the heat. Earth, being in a similar position, is neither incinerated nor refrigerated, though different sides of it can be hot or cold.

  • 0_____0 21 hours ago

    Earth has the benefit of a thermal mass that's at least a couple times larger than your average terrarium.

    • nitwit005 16 hours ago

      Everything exposed to the sun will heat up until the energy it emits balances out the incoming energy.

      Being a larger mass just means an object will take longer to heat up.

      • cma 9 hours ago

        Depending on how rich in internal radioactive sources of heat it isn't scale free with mass. Larger masses of the same makeup will reach different thermal equilibrium since the surface area grows at a slower rate than the internal heat production from decay which scales with mass.

        I don't know if it is significant, but tidal sources of heat might not scale the same either.

    • mr_toad 9 hours ago

      Presumably a spherical ball of air would be able to transfer heat more quickly (from the hot to the cold side) than the same volume spread out as a very thin hollow layer.