Aurora records in royal chronicles from Korea show that during the 'Maunder Minimum' between 1645 and 1715, the sun's solar cycles became several years shorter than they are today. When you purchase ...

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: The intensity of the Sun’s activity ebbs and flows across years, but also across decades—a behavior that scientists haven’t quite figured out yet. At ...

In 1645, something strange happened with our sun. Galileo was one of the first astronomers to document temporary blemishes on the solar surface, called “sunspots.” But in the mid 17th century they ...

Stephen has degrees in science (Physics major) and arts (English Literature and the History and Philosophy of Science), as well as a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication. Stephen has degrees in ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. From Earth, the Sun appears comfortingly constant, always just about ...

A large solar flare erupts from the Sun’s surface in this image from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory taken on 7 March 2012. Credit: NASA/GSFC/SDO Sunspots change in number depending on how much ...

Certain antsy astronomers are super-freaked-out: The sun has lost its spots. The sun’s magnetism has been decreasing for years, and now there hasn’t been a single sunspot since last year. The last ...

At the end of the last solar cycle in 2019, the official predictions were that the next cycle would be just as mild as its predecessor. Those predictions were wrong. The current Solar Cycle 25 turned ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The number of sunspots on our Sun typically ebbs and flows in a predictable 11-year cycle, but one unusual 70-year period when sunspots were incredibly rare has mystified ...

The sun has been quiet for the past couple of years. Too quiet. Normally, our home star goes through a sort of rising and falling sleep-wake cycle that lasts 11 years, on average. At the so-called ...

At the turn of the 21 st century, astrophysicists theorized that the Sun was headed toward a deep solar minimum, but a new study says that the Sun’s activity actually reversed course around 2008. This ...