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The Earth is pulled towards the current position of the Sun, not where it was 8 minutes ago.

The Sun is located at an average distance of about 149.6 million kilometers (93 million miles) from Earth. According to the theory of general relativity, gravity propagates at the speed of light. However, the speed of light is very fast compared to the distances involved in the Earth-Sun system. Therefore, the gravitational pull of the Sun that affects Earth is essentially instantaneous, as the time it takes for light to travel from the Sun to Earth is approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds.

So, when we observe the Sun from Earth, we see it as it was about 8 minutes ago due to the finite speed of light. However, the gravitational force acting on the Earth is based on the Sun's current position, and the Earth responds to this gravitational force in real-time. The movement of the Earth is influenced by the gravitational interaction with the Sun's current position, and this interaction occurs essentially without any noticeable time delay.

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