The sun is experiencing its quietest period in more than a century but the record reductions in the solar wind, solar radio emissions and solar brightness are nothing to worry about, says a Hamilton researcher.
"What we are experiencing is a very deep solar minimum, but it is still completely within the bounds of what is normal," Dr Sean Oughton, an associate professor of mathematics at Waikato University, told the ABC in Australia.
Sunspot activity follows 11-year cycles, which are linked to the sun's magnetic field , and according to NASA's Space Weather website the sun is in the middle of a solar minimum, with 266 sunspot-free days last year - the lowest for nearly a century.
In 2009, the sun has been blemish-free for more than 80 days, putting it on track for an even quieter year.
The drop in sunspots has also meant fewer solar flares and "coronal mass ejections" which blast vast quantities of atoms and ions into space, disrupting communications systems on earth and threatening astronauts in space.
Prof Oughton said there was speculation that there may be a correlation between sunspot activity and global temperature, since a 70-year cold snap in the 17th century that regularly froze the River Thames coincided with a drop in sunspot activity.
But no mechanism has been found which would prove a connection between minimal sunspot activity and cooler temperatures.
NZPA