system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How quickly does the temperature change from the surface of the sun to the near absolute zero of the interstellar medium?

I've often come across references to the average temperature "at the surface of the sun" being ridiculously high and have also come across references to the average temperature of interstellar medium being near absolute zero.

What I have not read before, however, is how quickly the temperature changes from one extreme to the other. For instance, what is the average temperature one kilometer above the surface of the sun? 10 kilometers? 100 kilometers? And so on...
gpt
Temperature as we know it breaks down in space. There simply isn't enough molecules/atoms/particles to define a temperature. Background radiation accounts for 3 degrees Kelvin above absolute zero, but it's important to know that even exposed to the vacuum of space you wont freeze instantly like you would in a substance at 3degrees kelvin.

The temperature barrier would then be right around where the corona stops iirc. Solar wind, or other  groups of particles jettisoned from the sun will have temperature but other than that there isn't enough particles around to define a temperature.