Estimating Photon Escape Time from Center of Sun

AI Thread Summary
Estimating the escape time for a photon from the center of the Sun involves using the formula S = D/T, where S is speed, D is distance, and T is time. The Sun's radius is approximately 696,000 km, and light travels at about 3 x 10^8 m/s. If there were no interactions, one could calculate the time it would take for a photon to travel this distance by rearranging the equation to T = D/S. However, the actual escape time is significantly longer due to interactions within the Sun's dense core. This calculation serves as a theoretical exercise rather than a reflection of real conditions.
swickey
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I have a question that I can't figure out. In the Sun, it takes several hundred thousand years for a photon released in the core to reach the surface. Use the speed of light and the radius of the sun to estimate the escape time for a photon from the center of the sun if there were no interaction.

The suns radius is 696,000km and light travels at 3 x10c/s...this is where I get lost. Can anyone help me?
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
Do you know the equation for relating distance, speed, and time?
 
S=\frac{D}{T}

It's just a case of plugging the numbers into the equation.Russ would this qualify as a homework question?
 

Thread 'Does it make sense to build new radio telescopes?'

TL;DR Summary: In 3 years, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope (or rather, a system of telescopes) should be put into operation. In case of failure to detect alien signals, it will further expand the radius of the so-called silence (or rather, radio silence) of the Universe. Is there any sense in this or is blissful ignorance better? In 3 years, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope (or rather, a system of telescopes) should be put into operation. In case of failure to detect...
View full post »
Thread 'Could gamma-ray bursts have an intragalactic origin?'

Thread 'Could gamma-ray bursts have an intragalactic origin?'

This is indirectly evidenced by a map of the distribution of gamma-ray bursts in the night sky, made in the form of an elongated globe. And also the weakening of gamma radiation by the disk and the center of the Milky Way, which leads to anisotropy in the possibilities of observing gamma-ray bursts. My line of reasoning is as follows: 1. Gamma radiation should be absorbed to some extent by dust and other components of the interstellar medium. As a result, with an extragalactic origin, fewer...
View full post »

Thread 'Our Beautiful Universe - Photos and Videos'

This thread is dedicated to the beauty and awesomeness of our Universe. If you feel like it, please share video clips and photos (or nice animations) of space and objects in space in this thread. Your posts, clips and photos may by all means include scientific information; that does not make it less beautiful to me (n.b. the posts must of course comply with the PF guidelines, i.e. regarding science, only mainstream science is allowed, fringe/pseudoscience is not allowed). n.b. I start this...
View full post »

Similar threads

I Sun gravitational lensing forces
Replies
11
Views
1K
I Mass Equivalence of Photon Content Inside the Sun?
Replies
12
Views
2K
B What If We Could See the Past by Placing a Mirror on the Sun?
Replies
13
Views
2K
I Atmospheric escape parametre statistics
Replies
1
Views
2K
I Nuclear reactions in the Sun and other topics on stars
Replies
49
Views
5K
B When Would Planets Go Dark if the Sun Went Out?
Replies
2
Views
2K
I How Big of an Object Orbiting Closer to the Sun Than Earth Could Be Overlooked?
Replies
17
Views
3K
What Is the Mean Free Path of a Photon at the Sun's Center?
Replies
1
Views
3K
I Black Hole Event Horizon Hypothesis
Replies
6
Views
2K
Velocity required to escape the solar system
Replies
15
Views
1K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top