THE MAUNDER MINIMUM

The Maunder Minimum was the 70-year period from about 1645 to 1715 when sunspots were exceedingly rare, as noted by the solar observers of the time. The years of the Maunder Minimum coincided with the coldest part of the Little Ice Age, during which Europe and North America were subjected to bitterly cold winters—leading to speculation that the phenomena were related. Astronomer John A. Eddy popularized the concept in his landmark 1976 paper “The Maunder Minimum.” Who was the eponymous Maunder? More…