Scientists have been puzzled by the lack of sunspots on the surface of the sun. But now they may have figured out an explanation.
Scientists have been puzzled by the lack of sunspots on the surface of the sun. But now they may have figured out an explanation.
A slow-moving river of gas snaking deep within the sun's interior took longer than expected to reach the critical zone where sunspots are born.
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Normally, sunspots reappear about every 11 years at the start of a new cycle of solar activity. Last year, the sun was spot-free for 266 days of the year, marking the quietest period of solar activity in a century.
Already this year, the sun has had 131 spotless days.
