What are the atoms floating in space

[Niaboc67]

Atoms are all around us, right? we cannot move without interacting with atoms in the air the ground et cetera. This got me thinking about how infinite and vast space is compared to the seemingly small amount of planets, which are full of atoms. I use to think that planets were where all the atoms smacked together because of gravity, which in sense I guess is true. In accordance to that I figured space was complete nothingness, but empty space isn't really empty, is it? Isn't outer space filled with nothing but atoms, can any space can be without atoms? since everything is composed of atoms?

Thank you

 

[SteamKing]

Atoms are all around us, right? we cannot move without interacting with atoms in the air the ground et cetera. This got me thinking about how infinite and vast space is compared to the seemingly small amount of planets, which are full of atoms. I use to think that planets were where all the atoms smacked together because of gravity, which in sense I guess is true. In accordance to that I figured space was complete nothingness, but empty space isn't really empty, is it? Isn't outer space filled with nothing but atoms, can any space can be without atoms? since everything is composed of atoms?

Thank you

Space is not exactly empty, but there are regions where large clouds of dust have collected and regions where very little matter is present, maybe on the order of a few atoms per cubic meter. The vacuum of space is a pretty hard one, i.e., pressures are very, very low.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space

The article above contains a fuller description.