Sunspot numbers rise and fall in 11-year cycles. Right now we are in the falling part of the cycle, so there are not very many spots. (To see the Sun today and check out the sunspots, along with the active regions associated with them, see here: https://www.thesuntoday.org/the-sun-now/) Which part of the cycle we are in does not determine specifically how many sunspots will be visible, but it tells you whether there is a high or low probability of seeing many sunspots. The situation was very different a few years ago when we were at peak solar activity! Then, there were many complex regions with many spots on the Sun. As the years go by, the number of sunspots (on average) will continue to fall, but in a few years it will start to rise as we head into the next peak activity period.

Hi,

You can see the current status of the solar cycle (we’re in cycle number 24) here: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/...ar-cycle-progression
The cycle is basically measured by the number of sunspots as a function of time. Solar maximum is when there are the highest number of sunspots and solar minimum is the low point (which we’re heading towards now).

And here’s an image of many solar cycles (and a prediction for the size of the next one):
http://solarcyclescience.com/Predictions/Cycle25_Prediction.png

-Christina