The November/December issue of The Planetary Report is out

Posted By Emily Lakdawalla

2009/12/02 01:34 CST

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Members of The Planetary Society, you should now be receiving your November/December issue of The Planetary Report in the mail. This one includes a feature on the new LightSail project as well as my annual "Year in Pictures" article. You can also download the PDF in the For Members area of this website (send an email to tps at planetary dot org if you're a member and don't know how to access that part of the site). Not a member? Why not? Join the world's largest space interest group! (and help pay my salary!)

NASA / ESA / Hubble SM4 ERO Team

November/December 2009

On the cover: Within the southern constellation Carina, located 7,500 light-years away, is a tempestuous stellar nursery called the Carina nebula. There looms this three-light-year-long pillar cloud of dense material, which is shaped by its interaction with radiation from stars both in and outside it. Radiation from exterior stars is disrupting the outer parts of the cloud, producing filamentary green and blue colors. The radiation is also compressing the cloud, inducing star birth. This image was taken in visible light by the Hubble Space Telescope's new Wide Field Camera (WFC3).