The Solar Influences Data Analysis Center in Brussels detected a dark speck on August 21 and 22 that was large enough to count as a sunspot.

Only a small number of sunspots have been observed so far this year, suggesting that the Sun is currently at its low point in an 11-year cycle of activity.

Sunspot data have been collected since 1749, and as many as 100 or more of the solar “freckles” can occur during a single month at the cycle’s peak.

A disturbing 50-year absence of sunspots in the 17th century, known as the Maunder Minimum, caused decades of cold weather known as the “Little Ice Age.”

Periods of inactivity are normal for the sun, but the current spot-free period has gone on much longer than usual.

Scientists maintain that the next solar cycle is just “off to a slow start.”

Solar Image: SOHO Michelson Doppler Imager
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