The sunlight hitting you is 100,000 years old

The sunlight on your face this morning is ancient. Photons are born in the Sun's core from fusion, but it takes them an estimated 100,000 to 170,000 years to reach the surface because they bounce in a random walk through dense plasma. Once they escape, it is only 8 minutes 20 seconds to Earth. So the light that warms you was made before modern humans existed. Sunspots and solar wind are recent, but the bulk of light you see is a message from deep time, finally free.