average yearly sunspot numbers
Graph of average yearly sunspot numbers showing the 11-year solar cycle.
Dalton minimum
solar phenomenon [1790–1830]
Also known as: Modern minimum
Dalton minimum, period of reduced sunspot activity that occurred between roughly 1790 and 1830. It was named for the English meteorologist and chemist John Dalton. Sunspot activity waxes and wanes with over about an 11-year cycle. During the Dalton minimum, the solar cycle continued; however, the number of sunspots at the peak of the solar cycles was about one-third of that observed during normal solar cycles. The three solar cycles that occurred during the Dalton...