THE SPOTLESS SUN LOOKS LIKE A GIANT BILLIARD BALL: The sun has just crossed 33 days without a sunspot, marking the longest stretch of blank suns in the current solar cycle. This development is consistent with recent predictions that the solar cycle will reach a minimum in 2019-2020, ultimately bouncing back for a new Solar Max in the years ahead. Visit Spaceweather.com to learn how sunspots--or lack thereof--affect us on Earth.
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Above: The spotless sun on June 21, 2019, photographed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.
