About a year ago, I signed a contract to write a book about astrochemistry for the American Chemical Society. The book was sent to production last Thursday, and it is now listed on the In Focus series page! Astrochemistry will be released in July, becoming the first title to publish in Collection One of the In Focus series.

I’m really excited about this book. Not only did I write it, I also did many of the illustrations, including the front cover. All illustrations for the book were done in Microsoft Paint on my Surface Pro 3.

About the cover

The cover illustration shows the star-speckled Milky Way splashed across Earth’s night sky. Stars and nebulous gas glow faintly, and dark patches represent dusty clouds that obscure a hidden chemical universe. Trees and other plants dot the mountain ridge, below which a body of water rests quietly. The ingredients for life, including water, were delivered to the early Earth several billions of years ago by comets, like the one soaring through space overhead in the cover image, and meteorites. Such chemistry was seeded in interstellar space as clumps of dust and gas collapsed into the infant star that would become the Sun. Chemistry, including what may be incorporated into habitable worlds around distant stars, emerges and evolves in star-forming regions throughout the galaxy and the universe.

Some of my other illustrations appearing in the book

Throughout the course of writing and illustrating this book, I gave my patrons sneak peaks of the artwork and some of the text to go along with the illustrations. Nebula patrons and beyond got monthly postcards with the artwork on them, many of which are now available in my shop.

All of my artwork is made possible by the folks who support me on Patreon. If you enjoy my artwork and want to be a supporter, you can join me on Patreon to get sneak peaks and exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at what I’m doing, starting at $1 per month. Patrons can also get monthly SciArt snail mail like stickers and postcards starting at $3 per month.