The sun has been eerily quiet for days in a row.

The sun has been eerily quiet for days in a row.

The sun is unusually quiet and docile, with no sunspots seen on its surface in 264 days— just four days short of setting a new record. 

In 2008, no sunspots were observed for a total of 268 days and if the current period exceeds this it will become one of the deepest lulls of the modern era. 

The sun typically follows an 11 years cycle of activity, and scientists have recently confirmed we are in the midst of a 'solar minimum'.

Our solar system consists of the major heavenly bodies, including the sun and eight planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. It also includes the dwarf planet Pluto; the satellites of planets; comets, asteroids and meteoroids; and interplanetary matter. Let’s look at some facts about the solar system.

Solar minimums mark a period of reduced activity on the sun and sunspots and solar flares are less frequent. 

At solar minimum, the sun's otherwise violent surface takes on a calmer and almost idyllic appearance but this faux calm can lead to magnetic storms which interfere with satellites, affect air travel and can even knock out power grids. 

At the cycle's peak, solar maximum, the sun is continually peppered with spots, some as big as the planet Jupiter.   

As the sun reached solar minimum, it increases the likelihood that activity levels will soon rebound with vigour.

A panel of experts from NASA and NOAA recently concluded that the current solar cycle is nearing its end, and the next one will begin when this streak ends. 

If the solar minimum prediction is correct, it would make the current Solar Cycle 24, the seventh longest on record at 11.4 years. 

Solar Cycle 25, the next period, is expected to peak in July 2025. 

'Solar Cycle 25 may have a slow start, but is anticipated to peak with solar maximum occurring between 2023 and 2026, and a sunspot range of 95 to 130,' the experts said.

'This is well below the average number of sunspots.

They also state that solar cycle 24 has continued a trend of steadily declining activity in the sun, but predict this will change with cycle 25. 

Solar minimum is a useful time for studying the evolution of active regions without the complication of overlapping and interacting regions.

An eerily still surface of the sun has been captured by NASA. Showing a solid orange globe, the image it produced is the result of a lack of sunspot activity in the star's magnetic field. During this point, the Sun's otherwise violent surface takes on a calmer and almost idyllic appearance.

Active regions can persist for days to months, and are observed to rotate across the Sun’s face many times.

Lack of sunspot activity in the sun is due to a continuing period of inactivity in the star's magnetic field. 

As the sun moves through its 11-years cycle, it experiences active and quiet periods known as the solar maximum and solar minimum.  

This solar slowdown often causes temporary cooling in Earth's atmosphere. 

When the sun entered a solar minimum between 1650 and 1710, NASA said the Earth was plunged into a 'deep freeze'.

'1650 to 1710, temperatures across much of the Northern Hemisphere plunged when the sun entered a quiet phase now called the Maunder Minimum.

'During this period, very few sunspots appeared on the surface of the sun, and the overall brightness of the sun decreased slightly.

'Already in the midst of a colder-than-average period called the Little Ice Age, Europe and North America went into a deep freeze: alpine glaciers extended over valley farmland; sea ice crept south from the Arctic; and the famous canals in the Netherlands froze regularly—an event that is rare today.