What was special about the solar activity cycle during the 1600's?
Question:
Answer:
What was so special about the solar activity in the 1600's? There was nearly none of it. Scientists debate whether this period of low solar activity was related directly or coincidentally to the unusally cold winters of the period. The phenomenon of 1645-1715 is called the Maunder Minimum- named for the Brittish scientist who studied the period closely.
Although several such "minimum" periods of solar activity have been identified by human observation and analysis (The Oort Minimum 1010-1050 and Wolf Minimum 1280-1340 for example) it is possible that our sun may be in a minimum state as much as 1/4 of the time.
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