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The Planetary Report • Winter Solstice 2012
Greatest Hits: The Year in Pictures
On the Cover: On June 5 and 6, 2012, people all over the world watched as Venus passed in front of the Sun, but the best views were from spacecraft. This image is composed of fifteen photos of the event, taken through an extreme ultraviolet filter by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. Venus is silhouetted against the solar corona, where ionized plasma reaches a temperature of a million degrees, radiating brightly in extreme ultraviolet light. The image has been rotated so that the Sun’s north pole is at left.
Features
6 The Bradbury Imperative: Andrew Chaikin reflects on why we must explore.
8 Where We Stand: Politics and budgets and waiting, with Casey Dreier.
9 COVER STORY The Year in Pictures: Emily Lakdawalla shares her favorite images from the past year.
Planetary Society Kids: Why is Mars colder than Earth?
16 Vacuuming Planets and Targeting Asteroids: Bruce Betts highlights two projects that Members support.
18 Infinite Visions: We asked some big questions, and Members answered.
Departments
2 Planetary Radio Mat Kaplan celebrates a remarkable milestone.
4 Your Place in Space Bill Nye makes Members’ voices heard in Washington and welcomes Endeavour.
20 Snapshots from Space Phoenix gets its laugh on…
21 What’s Up? Planets and the Geminids.
22 Volunteer Spotlight Geovanni Somoza calls all volunteers.
23 MySky Mars on Earth and a lunar eclipse.
The Planetary Report • Winter Solstice 2012
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