Maunder Minimum

Okay kiddo, today we are going to talk about something called "maunder minimum". This is when the sun, which is a big ball of gas that gives us light and heat, goes through a period of time where it doesn't have many sunspots on it's surface.

Sunspots are like big dark spots on the sun that come and go over time. Scientists can count the number of sunspots they see and use that data to track the sun's activity. During the maunder minimum, there were very few sunspots for a long time - like when you have a favourite toy and suddenly you lose it for a while.

The maunder minimum happened a long time ago, in the 1600s to the early 1700s. During that time, many places on Earth were much colder than usual. This time is sometimes called the "Little Ice Age". People would have to wear warmer clothing to stay comfortable and some crops wouldn't grow as well because of the cold.

Scientists are still studying exactly what caused the maunder minimum, but they use it as a way to learn more about the sun and how it impacts our planet. So, that's the story of the maunder minimum - a time when the sun didn't have many spots and the Earth got quite chilly.