hot flashes.

"The Sun is now in the quietest phase of its 11-year activity cycle, the solar minimum - in fact, it has been unusually quiet this year - with over 200 days so far with no observed sunspots. The solar wind has also dropped to its lowest levels in 50 years. Scientists are unsure of the significance of this unusual calm, but are continually monitoring our closest star with an array of telescopes and satellites."

check out all the rad hi-resolution photos and read more about it here. (http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/10/the_sun.html)