The fire ball supporting life on the blue planet, Sun is getting quieter – says new probe by the US space agency NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). NASA has reported that the sun had very quieter year in 2008, with fewer number of “Sunspots,” which are considered as the major source of solar activity such as solar flares. Sunspots are areas on the Sun's surface (photosphere), marked by intense magnetic activity, which inhibits convection, forming areas of reduced surface temperature.

NASA has noted that sunspots were observed on just about 25 percent of days the year, and the sun may remain quieter in 2009 as well. In the start of April, NASA revealed that sunspots were observed on 12 out of the 90 days of the year 2008, which was the Sun’s quietest year since 1913. According to NASA, the sun may experience less activity, may remain quiet in 2009.

NASA has recorded that since 1996, the luminosity or brightness has gone dim by .02 percent at wavelengths visible to the human eye, while the ultra violet wavelengths have gone dim by 6 percent. The space agency has noticed that solar wind has declined 20 percent and radio emissions have also dropped.  

In the weekly international science magazine New Scientist, Scientists have reported that sun normally goes through 11-year cycles of activity, and the nadir of the activity cycle was 2008, but the year 2013 is expected to be the year of maximum activity this sun cycle. The sun goes through longer high and low cycles, lasting for much longer periods of time. Currently, the sun has been going through high cycle for last 80 years. The scientists in Greenland by analyzed the isotopes, trapped in ancient ice to chart high cycles from the last 10,000 years. The scientists have claculated that the sun may reach the low cycle by 2020.