Solar Cycle Peaks; Future Looks Spotless

(NASA Photo)

The sun's magnetic poles have reversed polarity, according to NASA, officially marking the peak of solar Cycle 24, the weakest cycle in a century.

Meanwhile, Forbes.com is quoting solar physicist Mark Giampapa of the National Solar Observatory in Arizona as saying he believes we "are heading into a Maunder Minimum," referring to a period from 1645 to 1715 in which there were few to no sunspots over several 11-year solar cycles. If that's the case, said Giampapa, we could be suffering from low sunspot counts into the 2080s.