Originally Posted by grant hutchison

Okay, some basic physics:
The temperature of a spherical object, evenly heated by incident sunlight and cooling by reradiation is given by the equation:

T = T_sx([1-A]/4)^0.25x(R_s/d)^0.5
where T_s and R_s are the temperature and radius of the sun, A is the albedo and d is the distance from the Sun. You can find this in any basic astronomy textbook, since it relates to planetary temperatures.

Plug in the numbers for an object that reflects about a third of incoming radiation (not particularly shiny) and you find that:

T ~ 250K

Well below freezing.
An object needs to be pretty much black as asphalt (albedo 8%) to raise its equilibrium temperature to freezing, at Earth's distance from the Sun.

Grant Hutchison