Question

If you're 2 AU from earth, how many minutes will it take for sunlight to reach you?

earth science

Answer 1

`16.6` minutes

Explanation:

Because `1 AU` is the distance from the sun to the earth (`93` million miles), it will take twice as long to traverse twice the distance.
You can calculate the time from the distance and the speed (rate) of light.
`"Time" = ("Distance")/("Rate")`

https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/venus/q89.html

Answer 2

If at the distance of 3 AU, the time t = 24.93 minutes.

Explanation:

Major assumption: we are 2 AU from Earth, where Earth is directly between our location and the Sun. This means the straight-line distance to the Sun from our location is 3 AU (since Earth is already 1 AU from the Sun). If this assumption is wrong, then we could be at an angle that places us at a different distance.

First, convert the AU distance into meters using:
1 AU = 1.496e+11 m

Sunlight travels at speed `c = 3x10^8 m/s`.

Simply divide to get the time:
`t = d/c = (1.496 x 10^11)/(3x10^8) = 498.67 s`

This is the time to cover 1 AU. If we are 3 AU, then the time is:
`t = 3(498.67) = 1496.01 s = 24.9335` minutes

Just in case of curiosity, we could define our location in a much more geometrical way, but I don't believe this information is available. So the assumption seems good.