How long does light take to reach Earth?
8.3 minutesfrom the Sun
Light from the Sun takes about 8.3 minutes to reach Earth, crossing 149,597,870 km of nothing at 299,792 km every second.
▶ Watch light race to Earth in 3D
That 8-minute delay means you never see the Sun as it is — only as it was. If the Sun vanished right now, you'd feel nothing (not even its gravity, which also propagates at light speed) for another 8 minutes and 19 seconds.
Light is the fastest thing that can exist — it could circle Earth 7.5 times in one second. The fact that it needs 8.3 minutes to reach Earth is the size of the solar system, stated plainly.
You can watch this happen. In the interactive view, press ☄ Light speed: a photon leaves the Sun in accurate scaled time and you wait — genuinely wait — while it crawls across the emptiness. It's the single best way to feel what these numbers mean.
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✓ Facts verified July 2026
Every figure on this page is a real, rounded value checked against primary sources. Found something out of date? See how we keep it accurate.