Recent observations from the Hubble Space Telescope show that Neptune's clouds are almost
completely disappearing!
Astronomers report that their continual monitoring of Neptune’s weather uncovered a link between
its shifting cloud abundance and the 11-year solar cycle, in which the Sun’s entangled
magnetic fields drives solar activity.
When activity on the Sun increases, more intense ultraviolet radiation floods the solar system.
Astronomers found that two years after the solar cycle’s peak, the number of clouds
on Neptune increases.
The link between Neptune and the Sun’s activity is surprising to planetary astronomers because
Neptune is the outermost major planet, where sunlight is 1/900th the intensity Earth receives.
To monitor the evolution of Neptune’s appearance, astronomers analyzed Hubble Space Telescope
archival observations beginning in 1994, Keck Observatory images taken from 1994 to 2022,
and Lick Observatory data from 2018 to 2019.
The combined data will enable further investigations into the physics and chemistry that lead to
Neptune’s dynamic appearance, which in turn may help deepen astronomers’ understanding
not only of Neptune, but also of planets beyond our solar system.
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