Challenge: 1
Play With The Speed Of Light
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Note the eruptive solar prominence (an explosion of hot gas that erupts from the Sun's surface, usually associated with sunspot activity) with an image of the Earth added for size comparison. This prominence from July 24, 1999, is particularly large and looping, extending over 35 Earths out from the Sun. Erupting prominences (when Earthward directed) can disrupt satellite communication systems, navigation systems, even power grids, while also producing beautiful auroras visible in the night skies near the poles. |
Your first mission is to find out how many seconds over
8 minutes it takes for light to get from the Sun to reach you here on Earth.
Stuff you’ll need to know:
How far it is from the Sun to the Earth?
How fast does light travel per second?
| Distance from Sun to Earth | 150,000,000 | km |
| Speed of light | 300,000 | km/second |
Divide the distance from the sun to Earth, by the speed of light. This will tell you how many seconds it takes for light to travel from the Sun to Earth.
Now, you already know that there are 60 seconds in one minute.
After you know the number of seconds it takes for light to travel from the Sun to Earth. You will have to figure out how many seconds over 8 minutes it takes for light to get from there to here.
Don’t try asking any of your pets to do this!
If you are on the internet and want to see one of the many faces of the Sun on this very day, visit this NASA website: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime-images.html
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