The light radiated from the Sun's surface reaches Earth in about 8 minutes. However, the energy of this light was released by fusion in the Sun's core about

A) several hundred thousand years ago.

B) several hundred years ago.

C) 11 years ago. 8 minutes ago.

D) several thousand years ago.

Answer: A) several hundred thousand years ago.

Explanation: Of a fact, light which is produced by nuclear fusion reactions in the Sun's core takes an extremely long time to escape and reach Earth. A million years is around the highest end of the estimates, but it definitely takes many thousands of years.

The main reason it takes so long is because the atmosphere in the core of the Sun is very dense and opaque (so opaque that if you were there seeing is very impossible). Hence, light in the Sun's core can only travel a little distance before it is absorbed and reemitted, or scattered, in a random direction. This implies that the light in the sun will bounce around randomly for many thousands of years before eventually get far enough out to escape the Sun's core and then travel an extra eight minutes plus across space to reach the Earth's surface.