By car to the Sun: about 170 years
By car (100 km/h) it would take about 170 years to get to the Sun – at the average distance of 149,600,000 km, non-stop and in a straight line.
Because the distance keeps changing, the travel time ranges from 170 years (closest) to 170 years (farthest).
For comparison
Had you set off in 1859, when Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, you would be arriving about now.
How it is calculated
- Closest distance
- 147,100,000 km
- Average distance
- 149,600,000 km
- Farthest distance
- 152,100,000 km
- Speed
- 100 km/h
- Formula
- Travel time = distance ÷ speed
- Result
- 149,600,000 km ÷ 100 km/h ≈ 170 years
Assumption: constant speed in a straight line, with no stops, acceleration or braking. Real spacecraft fly curved paths and use the gravity of planets.
Good to know: Sun
Earth orbits the Sun on an almost circular ellipse. It is closest in early January (perihelion, about 147 million km) and farthest in early July (aphelion, about 152 million km). The average distance of 149.6 million km is called the astronomical unit (AU) and is the yardstick of the solar system. You couldn't land anyway: the Sun has no solid surface.
→ Fact sheet: SunSun: travel time by every vehicle
| Vehicle | Speed | Travel time | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car | 100 km/h | 170 years | 170 years – 170 years |
| Airplane | 900 km/h | 19 years | 18.6 years – 19.3 years |
| Rocket | 61,000 km/h | 100 days | 100 days – 100 days |
| Speed of light | 1,079,252,849 km/h | 8.3 minutes | 8.2 minutes – 8.5 minutes |