Sunlight Reaches Earth in 8 Minutes 20 Seconds

Light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes and 20 seconds (500 seconds) to reach Earth. The Sun is on average 150 million kilometers (93 million miles) from Earth, and that is how long a photon, a single packet of light, needs to cross the gap.

The Sun you see in the sky is therefore the Sun as it was more than 8 minutes ago. The 8 minutes 20 seconds is an average, because Earth’s orbit is slightly oval and the distance to the Sun shifts a little through the year. You can see a real NASA image of the Sun from today on the 3D model of the Sun.