• Question: How far away is the moon from the sun

    Asked by 297putk28 to Jake on 7 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Jake Langham

      Jake Langham answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      It’s about as far away from the Sun as the Earth is, because the distance from the Earth to the Moon is *tiny* compared to the distance to the Sun.

      The distance is about 150 million kilometers, which is much further away that I can easily imagine, but it’s true. That’s so far it takes light 8 minutes to reach us (and the Moon) from the Sun.

      Here’s a question for you. 150 million kilometers is only really the *average* distance away that we are, because the distance changes. Why do you think that is?

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