Im sorry i keep asking questions but i cant find them on the web
2006-12-21 14:06:43 · 3 answers · asked by ariana_hernandez2000 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Given it takes sunlight just over 8 minutes to travel 1 AU to earth, it takes light somewhere between 11.5 to 14 minutes to get from the Sun to Mars depending on whether Mars is at perihelion or aphelion. (The orbit is elliptical.)
Perihelion 206,644,545 kilometres (128,402,967 miles) 1.381 AU
Aphelion 249,228,730 kilometres (154.863,553 miles) 1.666 AU
Speed of light = 186,282.397 miles per second
831,33 seconds at aphelion = 13 minutes 51.33 seconds
689.29 seconds at perihelion = 11 minutes 29.29 seconds
2006-12-21 14:14:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It depends on where it starts.
For travel time of light from the sun:
Just find the radius of Mars' orbit and use the speed of light to get the time of travel. Mars is farther out than the earth and so it should take longer than the approx 8.5 minutes.
Semi-major axis 227,936,637 km (141,632,976 mi)
2006-12-21 22:13:50 · answer #2 · answered by modulo_function 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it depends on where the light is coming from
if the light is from the sun it will take about 761 seconds or 12 min. and 41 sec.
this is because light travels at about 186,282 miles per second and mars is about 141,700,000 miles away (on average).
141,700,000 miles / 186,282 miles per second = 761 seconds
2006-12-21 22:10:12 · answer #3 · answered by jake 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋