Hello Alyson Currently the Sun is in Solar Minimum. Solar minimum is the period during the solar cycle when the number of sunspots is the lowest. The solar cycle is an 11 year cycle. Dawn

Hi Alyson,

I thought I might tell you a little more about the solar cycle. This 11 year cycle is due to magnetic fields. The Sun is like a very complicated and ever-changing magnet. And the invisible force around magnets are known as "magnetic fields." These fields can get twisted up and break and become less twisted. Where there are strong magnetic fields, the Sun is cooler and these regions look darker. These are sunspots. Right now, most of the Sun's magnetic fields are not at all twisted up and so there are not regions that are cooler and so there are no sunspots.

Laura