Today, the 14th of April, we celebrate the birthday of astronomer Annie (Russell) Maunder.

Born in 1868 in Stabane Co. Tyrone, she worked as a computer in the Greenwich Royal Observatory where she met her husband Edward Walter Maunder.

She and her husband went on to photograph many sunspots and solar eclipses around the world. They even published a popular science book, The Heavens and their Story.

Annie is most famous for her connection with the Maunder minimum. The Maunder minimum was a period in time between 1645 and 1715, during which sunspots and solar storms were extremely rare.

Annie is a fan favourite among the solar physics and space weather group in the observatory owing to her incredible work in solar physics across her life.