Do we see the sun from 8 minutes ago?
Minutes and hours The Sun is about 150 million km away, so we see it as it was about 8 minutes ago. Even our nearest planetary neighbours, Venus and Mars, are tens of millions of kilometres away, so we see them as they were minutes ago.
Does the sun rise 8 minutes before we see it?
Photons emitted from the surface of the Sun need to travel across the vacuum of space to reach our eyes. The short answer is that it takes sunlight an average of 8 minutes and 20 seconds to travel from the Sun to the Earth.
Do we actually see the sun?
Yes, you are right. We don’t only see the Sun 8 minutes in the past, we actually see the past of everything in space. We even see our closest companion, the Moon, 1 second in the past.
Why does it take 8 minutes for light to get to us from the sun?
Because the speed of light in a vacuum isn’t really open to negotiation and it takes approx. 8 minutes to travel the distance between the earth and the sun at the speed of light.
How many light minutes away is the Sun?
8 minutes
Other Galaxies
| Object | Time for the Light to Reach Us |
|---|---|
| The Sun | 8 minutes |
| Jupiter | 35 to 52 minutes |
| Pluto | 5 1/2 hours (on average) |
| Alpha Centauri (nearest star system) | 4.3 years |
How long does it take light to escape the Sun?
The actual ‘mean free path’ for radiation is closer to 1 centimeter after electromagnetic effects are included. Light travels this distance in about 3 x 10^-11 seconds. Very approximately, this means that to travel the radius of the Sun, a photon will have to take (696,000 kilometers/1 centimeter)^2 = 5 x 10^21 steps.
Does the Sun set before you see it?
When we think we are seeing the Sun setting, it may already be below below the horizon, because atmospheric refraction allows us to see the Sun around the curvature of the Earth. Several other aspects of sunsets are optical effects or illusions.
How long light takes from Sun to Earth?
The Sun is 93 million miles away, so sunlight takes 8 and 1/3 minutes to get to us.
How old is the sunlight we see?
The sunlight we see is 170 000 years and 8.5 minutes old.
How many light minutes is the Sun from the earth?
8.317 light-minutes
For example, a light-minute is 60 light-seconds, and the average distance between Earth and the Sun is 8.317 light-minutes.
How long does it take the Sun’s light to reach Earth?
Where does light travel fastest?
vacuum
Light waves do not need a medium in which to travel but sound waves do. Explain that unlike sound, light waves travel fastest through a vacuum and air, and slower through other materials such as glass or water.