Light travels at amazing speed from "summary" of A Short History of Nearly Everything: Special Illustrated Edition by Bill Bryson
In the vastness of the universe, light is one of the most extraordinary phenomena. It possesses a speed that is truly remarkable. When we speak of the speed of light, what we are really talking about is 186,282 miles per second, or some 670 million miles an hour. To put this into perspective, if you could travel at the speed of light, you could circle the Earth seven and a half times in just one second. The speed of light is so fast that it can travel from the moon to the Earth in just a little over a second. This means that when we look up at the moon, what we are seeing is not the moon as it is now, but as it was just over a second ago. The light that bounces off the moon and enters our eyes has traveled an incredible distance in a minuscule amount of time. This speed of light has profound implications for our understanding of the universe. It means that light from distant stars and galaxies can reach us here on Earth, allowing us to see objects that are billions of light-years away. When we look up at the night sky, we are not just seeing the stars as they are now, but as they were millions or even billions of years ago. The light we see has traveled vast distances and crossed unimaginable stretches of space to reach us. The speed of light is not just a fascinating scientific fact; it is a fundamental aspect of the universe that shapes the way we perceive and understand the cosmos. It is a reminder of the immense scale and complexity of the universe we inhabit, and the incredible feats of nature that we are privileged to witness. So the next time you look up at the sky and marvel at the stars, remember that the light reaching your eyes has traveled at amazing speed to bring you a glimpse of the wonders of the universe.
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