The Sun did not have spots for 7 consecutive days. Our star looks like a huge yellow billiard ball.
The last time sunspots disappeared for a whole week, was in December 2010. It was a time when the Sun was coming back from a period of prolonged solar minimum. In the present case, the 7th day of the interregnum is a sign that a new solar minimum is suitable.
Solar cycle like a pendulum, swinging back and forth between periods of high and low sunspot number every 11 years. Today is empty the Sun is a sign that the pendulum has swung in the direction of low sunspot numbers. In other words, set the solar minimum.
But spotlessly clean as today’s Sun is only temporary. Beneath the visible surface, there are formed the knots of magnetism that will soon become visible and create new sunspots. The current solar cycle is not finished, but quickly weakens. Space meteorologists expect the next solar minimum will occur in 2019-2020.
