... Precisely one month ago, on 11 July 2009, the last active area of the new solar cycle disappeared from the surface of the Sun. Over the 30 days following this, neither observers on Earth nor devices in space have been able to detect the emergence of any sunspots. ... Therefore, it seems that our star has once again returned to a state of deep solar "winter", following several sparks of activity in May-June 2009. ... To date, this period has lasted 30 days. ...