Trying to change the alpha on a particle system.

I've tried many ways to try and adjust the color for a particle system. Nothing I do changes the color. I've tried to change the starting color, but I realized that I have to restart the partical system to make that update, which I do not want. So I tried changing the color over lifetime, but that has no results either. The code I've got currently is:

         float alpha;
 
         float maxDistFromPlayer = 100f;
 
 
         float numerator = Mathf.Clamp(distance, 0, maxDistFromPlayer);
         float denominator = maxDistFromPlayer;
         float percent = Mathf.Clamp((numerator / denominator), 0, 1);
         
         alpha = 255 * percent;
 
         particleColor = new Color(startingColor.r, startingColor.g, startingColor.b, alpha);
         colorModule.color = new ParticleSystem.MinMaxGradient(particleColor, particleColor);