[UPDATE, 22:00 Mountain US Time, Aug 17: Well, that was easy! I just checked, and the book has blown through it's goal! BABloggees rock. Thanks! But this doesn't mean you still can't donate if you want to.]

I have a few picture books of astronomy on my shelf, and I always wonder how the publishers are able to print such magnificent quality books and make money. Some of the books are pretty pricey, as you might expect — a hundred pages of glossy full-color pictures ain’t cheap! — so it seems like it would be hard to do this without a major publisher backing you.

Of course, that was before the intertubez. My friend, astronomer and artist Dan Durda, let me know about a gorgeous book called The Beauty of Space. He sent me some promo material, and it truly is a very cool book. It’s about the history of space art, and includes astonishing and spectacular artwork from some of the best people making it (including Dan).

A book like this might be hard to publish on its own, so the editor, Jon Ramer, has made it ...