The Sun passed through a period in the 17th century when there were almost no sunspots at all. The Maunder minimum occurred between 1645 and 1715, and it spanned many solar cycles.
Scientists have long been intrigued by this peculiar abnormality; now, another nearby star may provide the explanation. It appears to have entered a similar phase of slumber, and keeping an eye on what it does could help us figure out what happened to our own Sun.
The findings could also shed light on the Sun's stellar magnetic activity, which can disrupt satellites and global communications and alter Earth's climate.
In a new report published in the Astronomical Journal, the researchers explain the star and a catalog of five decades of starspot activity on 58 other sun-like stars. The study title is "Five Decades of Chromospheric Activity in 59 Sun-like Stars and New Maunder Minimum Candidate HD 166620."
Sun Went Mysteriously Quiet For 70 Years
Due to brief lower temperatures in the area caused by the star's dynamo - the process that forms its magnetic field - starspots appear as a dark spot on its surface.
Changes in Sun's starspot frequency have been documented by astronomers since they were first spotted by Galileo and other astronomers in the 1600s. Thus, there is a good record of its 11-year cycle.
The Maunder Minimum, which lasted from the mid-1600s until the early 1700s and has baffled astronomers ever since, is an exception.
"We don't really know what caused the Maunder Minimum, and we have been looking to other sun-like stars to see if they can offer some insight," study lead author Anna Baum told Futurity.
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Baum, an undergraduate at Penn State at the time of the research, and her team who worked on the study believed that the Sun entered a state similar to the Maunder Minimum.
"It will be really exciting to continue to observe this star during, and hopefully as it comes out of, this minimum, which could be extremely informative about the sun's activity 300 years ago," Baum added.
How This Magnetically 'Dead' Star Could Solve Mystery
Universe Today said the team of astronomers recently combined Mount Wilson observations with more current data from observatories like Keck to quantify the activity cycle of 59 stars over 50 to 60 years in research.
By watching at least two full cycles, they could corroborate the cycles of 29 of them. Given that some stars have 20-year cycles, this is no small effort. They also discovered that some stars do not have any cycles. However, one star, in particular, piqued my interest.
The star, known as HD 166620, has a 17-year activity cycle. But it's been quiet since 2003. It is the first time another star has gone through an extended period of silence, similar to the Maunder Minimum.
HD 166620 is around 6 billion years old and contains about 80% of the mass of the Sun. A little smaller and older, but near enough in size and age that the two stars' dynamics should be comparable.
There's no word about why HD 166620 has gone silent. However, according to Science Alert, the star could potentially be experiencing a Maunder minimum.
Surprisingly, the low activity period began amid a hiatus in studies of the star; yet, continuing to watch the star throughout its low activity period could assist throw light on our own Sun's strange activity.
Further observations will allow for a more precise measurement of its magnetic activity. Scientists could still be able to monitor the star as it exits its quiet period and returns to its 17-year cycle in the future. It might provide the information we need to figure out why the Sun was silent for decades.
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