Maunder Minimum: A period from 1645 to 1715, when the average number of sunspots was unusually low. It was investigated by E. W. Maunder, and corresponds to a time called the "Little Ice Age", when temperatures were unusually cold.
Maunder Minimum
A period of less numerous sunspots and other solar activity from 1645-1715.
Megaparsec (Mpc) ...
MAUNDER MINIMUM
A period of about seventy years from 1645 to 1715 when the sunspot cycle ceased and there were almost no sunspots visible on the Sun.
Maunder Minimum - A period of few sunspots and low solar activity that occurred between 1640 and 1700
Mean Solar Time - Time kept according to the average length of the solar day ...
The Maunder Minimum
Early records of sunspots indicate that the Sun went through a period of inactivity in the late 17th century. Very few sunspots were seen on the Sun from about 1645 to 1715 (38 kb JPEG image).
Maunder minimum - (n.)
virtual disappearance of sunspots in the period 1645 to 1715.
MCSA - (n.) ...
Maunder minimum
An approximately 70-year period, centered near 1670, during which practically no sunspots were observed.
maximum usable frequency (MUF) ...
During the Maunder Minimum in the 17th Century there were hardly any sunspots at all. This coincides with a period of cooling known as the Little Ice Age.
(2000), "Evolution of the Sun's Spectral Irradiance Since the Maunder Minimum", Geophysical Research Letters 27 (16): 2425-2428, doi:10.1029/2000GL000043, ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.
Is there a causal connection between the Maunder Minimum and the Little Ice Age or was it just a coincidence? How does the variability of the Sun affect the Earth's climate?
For example, the Maunder minimum seems to correspond fairly well to the coldest years of the so-called Little Ice Age that chilled northern Europe during the late 1600s.
This period between 1645 and 1715 is known as the "Maunder Minimum," and it is sometimes referred to as the "Little Ice Age." During this period, rivers that were normally ice-free froze and snow fields remained year-round in lower altitudes.
This period is known as the 'Maunder Minimum', after the British astronomer who discovered it from the records in 1890.
From 1645-1715 there were very few sunspots, even during the maxima. This is known as the Maunder Minimum, and represents a period of solar inactvity that resulted in the 'Little Ice Age' on Earth.
However, this cycle is not always followed and between 1645 and 1720 it stopped altogether (a period known as the Maunder minimum). During this time there was a mini ice age in northern Europe.
Indeed, one such episode known as the Maunder minimum may have triggered the Little Ice Age from 1645 to 1715 CE, when crops failed in Northern Europe and London's Thames River stayed frozen in June. According to Sallie L.
The Sun has also undergone periodic changes in luminosity that can have a significant impact on the Earth. The Maunder minimum, for example, is believed to have caused the Little Ice Age phenomenon during the Middle Ages.
Now, the observation of a quiescent jet stream, fading sunspots and slower activity near the poles is suggesting that the Sun could be headed for hibernation. Scientists are asking if this quiet period could be a repeat of the famous Maunder Minimum, ...
The activity levels of slowly rotating stars tend to vary in a cyclical manner and can shut down altogether for periods. During the Maunder minimum, for example, the Sun underwent a 70-year period with almost no sunspot activity.
There were very few sunspots from 1645-1715, even during the maxima. This interval is called the “Maunder Minimum,' and represented a period of solar inactivity that probably caused the “Little Ice Age' on Earth.
Eddy correlated Maunder's data with a low frequency of aurorae and the reduced sizes of annual tree rings. This "Maunder Minimum" may have played a role in the unusually low temperatures in the northern hemisphere during this period, ...
 See also: Sunspot, Minimum, Solar, Period, Time
  
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