How many seconds does sunlight take to reach Earth?
Science medium Data from 2024
Guess before you scroll — the answer is below
The answer
499 seconds
Roughly 499.
Light covers the 93 million miles from the Sun in about 499 seconds — 8 minutes 19 seconds. So you always see the Sun as it was over eight minutes ago. A photon generated in the core, by contrast, can take tens of thousands of years just to reach the surface.
Where this number comes from
| Source | NASA |
|---|---|
| Figure refers to | 2024 |
| Last checked | |
| Unit | seconds |
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