Solar cycle

What is the solar cycle? What is the sunspot cycle? What is solar maximum? What is the Maunder minimum? Like any other planets The Sun also repeat some of the activities. For example Sunspots, or darker regions or patches show up in the sun’s surface from time to time. This cycle is also called solar magnetic cycle. The number of sunspots seen in the surface of the sun is not the same. They change form year to year. This rises and fall in sunspot count is a sunspot cycle. The length of the cycle is about 11 years in average. Solar maximum or solar max is the period when the sun’s magnetic field lines are the most distorted. The solar cycle takes an average of about 12-year cycle to go from one solar maximum to the next. The sun went to through a period of inactivity in late 17th century. This period is also called “Little Ice Age". This time the river were frozen and the earth was full of ice fields.