London, British scientists showed in a study published today that solar activity influences the color and the formation of atmospheric clouds on the planet Uranus, producing alterations in brightness.

To demonstrate this hypothesis, the authors used data from telescopes on Earth, as well as cosmic rays measured by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, to make their assessment, highlights the work reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
As a result of the study, led by Karen Aplin, and Giles Harrison, of the universities of Oxford and Reading, respectively, it was discovered that after the long strange seasons of the planet, it seems brighter and tenuous in a cycle of 11 years.
According to Aplin, the atmosphere around Uranus is one of the coldest in the solar system, but it still contains clouds and ice, like our own atmosphere here on Earth. The changing brightness of the planet shows that something is happening to the clouds, she said.
We have found that the change is caused by two processes, she stated. One is chemical, caused by the fluctuation of ultraviolet sunlight levels that alter the color of the particles in the atmosphere, she explained.
The second process involves high-speed particles from outside the solar system, known as galactic cosmic rays that bombard the atmosphere and influence the formation of clouds, she added.