How long does sunlight take to reach Earth?

The average distance between Earth and the Sun is about 149.6 million kilometres, a distance astronomers call one astronomical unit. Light travels through space at about 299,792 kilometres per second, so it covers that gap in roughly 499 seconds, or about 8 minutes 20 seconds. Because Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical, the travel time varies from about 8 minutes 10 seconds in early January, when Earth is closest to the Sun, to about 8 minutes 27 seconds in early July, when it is farthest away. This means that when you look at the Sun, you are seeing it as it was more than eight minutes ago. By comparison, light reflected from the Moon reaches us in only about 1.3 seconds.