... Active Region 1002 on an Unusually Quiet Sun . ... Credit: SOHO Consortium , EIT , ESA , NASA Explanation: Why has the Sun been so quiet recently? ... Our Sun has shown few active regions -- that house even fewer associated sunspots -- for over a year now, and such a period of relative calm is quite unusual. ... Predictions hold, however, that our Sun will show more and more active region s containing more and more sunspots and flares until Solar Maximum occurs in about four years. ...