Re: Quiet Sun


"David Knisely" <KA0CZC@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:78956$43fc11a6$8b37d1c0$8682@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chu Mai Wang posted:

This begs the question, just what did occur on the sun during the Maunder
Minimum over 150 years, 1650 - 1700 that was directly linked to
a 'little ice age". It is mysterious.

Yes, it is a little mysterious, and from several lines of evidence, it
appears the the Maunder Minimum was indeed quite real. It was only about
70 years long rather than 150 (it ran from around 1645 to about 1715) and
was an extended period where sunspot activity was weak or absent. H.
Zirin of Cal Tech indicates that the 11-year cycle continued during this
period, but that it had a very low amplitude. There is also a little
evidence that another period of weak sunspot activity sometimes called the
"Sporer Minimum" may have occurred from 1400 to 1510, although the
evidence for this one is less conclusive than that for the Maunder event.
Clear skies to you.
--


I have wondered if the technology for sunspot detection just wasn't good
enough during
that period. What were the best telescopes of the time? Did they just
project the suns image
onto paper to see sunspots or did they have sun filters then?


.