Eli5: how old is a photon from the sun when it arrives to the earth?

Question

So time is relative, speed will altere the “perception” of time… Right?. If you travel at almost C you “age slower”. And photons travel for around 8 minutes before hitting earth.

So… How this combine together? Is 8 minutes for us a lifetime for that photon or the other way around? Is this even applicable to something without mass?

In: 2

Answer 1

Photons, and anything else moving at c, don’t really have a perspective.

An object moving at *near* c would experience almost no time at all during the journey. The distance between Earth and the Sun would, from its perspective, contract such that its near light speed movement allowed it to cross the distance much faster.