How Fast is Light?

Many people don't know how fast light really is. Light can travel around the world 8 times in one second. Currently, nothing is faster than the speed of light. Here are some facts about light energy:

 

1. Going from Los Angeles to New York would take 0.001 seconds

2. Going around the equator would take 0.125 seconds

3. Getting to Venus would take 2.5 minutes

4. Going to Mars would take 4.1 minutes

5. Reaching the center of the Milky Way would take 30,000 years

6. Reaching the farthest galaxy would take 13-15 billion years

 

When we look up at the stars, we aren't seeing what they look like at that same moment. We are really seeing at least 10 minutes into the past. This is because that is how long the light from the stars takes to travel to us. If a star were to implode, we wouldn't know for about 10 minutes or more . 

 

A lot of people think that sound is the fastest type of energy. Sound can only travel 343 meters per second. Light can travel many times quicker than sound energy can.

 

Now that you really know how fast light can travel, think about how long it would take a regular space shuttle or the fastest land vehicle to reach places. A space ship travels roughly 4.86 miles a second with light traveling 186,282 miles in just one second. The only way someone could travel the speed of light is if we had an infinite amount of energy or if the possibility of a "warp drive" existed.