When the Galileo spacecraft reached Jupiter on December 7, 1995, Jupiter was almost at conjunction with the Sun. Given that it takes 8 1/3 minutes for light to travel a distance of 1 au, how long did it take Galileo's signals to reach Earth from Jupiter? (A diagram might help to envision this configuration.)
A) 52 minutes
B) 35 minutes
C) 60 minutes
D) 43 minutes

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

At conjunction, Jupiter is approximately 5.2 astronomical units (au) from Earth. Since light takes 8 1/3 minutes to travel 1 au, the time taken for signals to travel from Jupiter to Earth is 5.2 au * 8.33 minutes/au = approximately 43 minutes.

When the Galileo Spacecraft Reached Jupiter on December 7, 1995