Solar cycle: When the Sun tore away Neptune’s clouds and Hubble Telescope recorded it

Photo Credit: NASA

According to NASA, the sun’s activity has a great impact on the entire solar system and especially on our farthest planet, Neptune. And the Hubble Space Telescope and the W. M. Keck Observatory recorded it all happening on Neptune over a span of 30 years.

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NASA's Hubble Space Telescope studied the Neptune cloud shifting for over three decades and discovered the link between solar activity and the sun’s magnetic field.

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NASA reports that the planet-wide cloudiness of Neptune appears to be linked to solar activity rather than to its four seasons.

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It was revealed that the solar system’s weather is heavily hampered in each solar cycle that occurs every 11 years when the intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation floods our space environment.

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Due to this reason, After every two years of a solar peak, Neptune is seen with a heavy amount of clouds around the planet.

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Through the analysis of 2.5 cycles of documented cloud activity, researchers gained insights into the cloudy weather pattern of Neptune observed over several years. And it studied how the sun’s activity is impacting the planet’s weather as well as its brightness.

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The peaks reached by the Sun during the solar cycle impacts photochemistry. This is a process that occurs in the upper atmospheric regions that actually leads to the gradual production of clouds in Neptune's weather. If something disturbs the process, Neptune clouds get affected

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Neptune’s cloud disappearance is being linked with solar activity which also comes as a surprise to scientists as it is the farthest planet that receives only 0.1% of sunlight received by Earth.

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As of now, the cloud formation on the planet is extremely low and most of the clouds can be seen in the planet's south pole. Astronomers from the University of California also discovered that a great amount of clouds started fading in 2019.

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In effect, what is happening on Neptune is that Neptune's brightness is changing and it is caused by the Sun. This is happening in sync with the Sun affecting the cloud cover.

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 What has also been noted is that there is a 2-year time lag between the peak of the solar cycle (when the clouds start disappearing) and the return of clouds seen on Neptune.