A quiz question · hard
What did the astronomer E. Walter Maunder identify in 1894 about the period 1645–1715?
Edward Walter Maunder, at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, analysed historical observation records and noticed that sunspots had nearly disappeared between 1645 and 1715. The period — now called the Maunder Minimum — overlapped with the coldest stretch of the Little Ice Age, including the Great Frost of 1709. The solar-climate connection was forgotten until John A. Eddy revived it in a famous 1976 *Science* paper.
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The Seventy Years the Sun Forgot to Have Spots Between 1645 and 1715 the surface of the Sun was nearly blank. Sunspot counts dropped to almost zero. Europe froze. Astronomers noticed, then forgot.
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