Astronomy and light travel time: How long does sunlight take to reach Earth? Give the approximate time delay for light traveling from the Sun to Earth's surface under average conditions. Choose the correct option.

Given

• Average Earth–Sun distance ≈ 1 astronomical unit (1 AU) ≈ 1.496 × 10¹¹ m.
• Speed of light c ≈ 3.00 × 10⁸ m/s.

CalculationTime = Distance / Speed = (1.496 × 10¹¹) / (3.00 × 10⁸) s ≈ 498.7 s.498.7 s ≈ 8 minutes 18.7 seconds (commonly rounded to ≈ 8 min 20 s).

Final AnswerAbout 8 minutes 20 seconds