"The surface of the sun has been surprisingly calm of late — with fewer sunspots than anytime in in the last century — prompting curious scientists to wonder just what it might mean here on Earth."
"Sunspots have been observed for millennia — first by Chinese astronomers and then, for the first time with a telescope, by Galileo in 1610.
The sunspots appear in roughly 11-year cycles — increasing to a daily flurry and then subsiding drastically, before amping up again.
But this cycle — dubbed cycle 24 — has surprised scientists with its sluggishness."
Agence France-Press had the story November 24, 2013.
Source: AFP, 11/25/2013
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