The Universe’s second season is again, excellent. You can think of this second set of documentaries as a more in-depth follow up to the first year. Topics include dark matter, the constellations, gravity and space colonization. (Is it an Americanism or a mistake that lead them to title one episode ‘nebulas’ and not ‘nebulae’?).

The great thing about The Universe is that it targets the age group most disconnected from science. As a group, older teenagers are looking away from science and school isn’t doing enough to keep them interested. Documentaries like this engage people at home and lead them out into museums, lectures and libraries.

You could go and buy this show on Amazon, or directly from The History Channel - or you could win a copy! I have one sealed copy of The Universe Season Two to give away. More than 14 hours of spacey goodness on 5 DVDs in a rather fetching metal case.

How do you win it? Simple really - you have to sign up to Twitter and start following Orbiting Frog. Shameless ploy to get more Twitter followers? Yes… and no. Twitter is becoming quite the hub of astronomy chat and news. At the recent .Astronomy Conference, it became obvious that Twitter, and services like it, were going to be very important in astronomy in the next few years.

So on October 31st, I will pick a random follower on Twitter (no space probes allowed!). They will be sent this great DVD collection, but more importantly they, and possibly many others, will have joined the conversation.

To sign up to Twitter, visit http://twitter.com and once you have start following me (http://twitter.com/orbitingfrog). If you already follow me on Twitter, you are automatically entered - how easy was that?

While you’re on Twitter you might want to take a look at several more users that may be of interest:

• Carnival of Space
• WETI
• Planck
• Astronomy Picture of the Day
• The Jodcast
• International Year of Astronomy
• The Mars Rovers
• Mars Phoenix Lander
• .Astronomy Conference

Also there are many fellow astronomy bloggers on Twitter:

• Space Disco
• Chris Lintott
• The Daily ACK
• Will Gater
• Star Stryder
• Astronomy Blog
• Bad Astronomy

If I’m missing anyone, please comment to add your Twitter feed. Good luck to those entering, and happy Twittering.

With all of this in mind I think its time to admit that I cannot post as often on this blog. I will have to scale back a bit and so to prevent the blog from becoming filled with other material I have turned off the Skynote and Digg integration. These automated posts were great when I was blogging once a day, but now feel more like blog spam.

I will also be changing the blog’s design during October to match the new, slower pace and to emphasize the many projects I am also working on. I intend to make the Google Sky and Google Earth materials open source (oh no, I’ll have to comment my code) and to drop some new scripts down here for you to try.

All in all I think I have to take some good advice and make this site more about quality than quantity. Less blogging what has already been blogged and more on the stuff that’s new and directly from my brain to the server.

If you can join us over at .Astronomy this week (ustream worked yesterday…) then we’d love to have you. Other than that, I’ll see you in a couple of weeks via good ol’ Orbiting Frog.

• 1 NASA Photo of Hurricane Ike From the Space Station
• 2 NASA Has Plans for Nuclear Reactor Under Surface of The Moon
• 3 Aliens might have sent messages by tweaking variable stars
• 4 “Galactic internet” proposed
• 5 The Yin-Yang of Ultraviolet Radiation

To find out what”s popular right now, click here to visit Digg

• 1 NASA to Explore the "Secret Layer" of the Sun
• 2 “Anyone Who Thinks The LHC Will Destroy The World is a Twat"
• 3 APOD: Milky Way Road Trip
• 4 Closest Look Yet at Milky Way”s Black Hole
• 5 NASA Image - Astronauts: Past and Present

To find out what”s popular right now, click here to visit Digg

• 1 APOD: Facing NGC 6946
• 2 Experts: Reliance on Russia makes NASA weak
• 3 Phoenix Microscope Takes 1st Image Of Martian Dust Particle
• 4 Buzz Aldrin on the Future of Mars and Private Space
• 5 MIT solves puzzle of meteorite-asteroid link

To find out what”s popular right now, click here to visit Digg

• 1 Incredible Views of Jupiter [PICS]
• 2 APOD: Spitzer”s M101
• 3 Edgar Mitchell UFO interview
• 4 7 Ways Star Trek aka Gene Roddenberry Changed the World
• 5 The Extremely Long Odds Against the Destruction of Earth

To find out what”s popular right now, click here to visit Digg

The skies here are big and clear and even these early Perseids look amazing. Getting the telescope out later for some real sightseeing.

• 1 Spot the Space Station
• 2 Pluto Gets Respect: Dwarf Planets to Be Called “Plutoids”
• 3 Mystery of the Great Attractor Pulling the Milky Way
• 4 Rare “Star-Making Machine” Discovered In a Distant Universe
• 5 Discovery of the source of the most common meteorites

To find out what”s popular right now, click here to visit Digg

Starmap costs $11.99 or £6.99.

• 1 Does the Sun look smaller to you? Earth was at aphelion.
• 2 APOD: SN 1006 Supernova Remnant
• 3 Moon mistaken for a UFO
• 4 Up Close View of the Space Shuttle”s Main Engine
• 5 Giant telescopes could be built from Moon dust

To find out what”s popular right now, click here to visit Digg

Orbiting Frog has been growing and changing for as long as it has been around. Every now and again, it’s good to take stock and get some thoughts from people who read the blog. Now that there actually are people reading it, this process is much easier!

I’d like to hear your thoughts on the things you like and dislike about Orbiting Frog and any changes or modifications you’d like to see. This could include anything from the way the blog looks and feels to the topics covered or the regularity of updates.

Good, bad or ugly - don’t worry I can take it, although I will delete needless cruelty and profanity! Please leave your thoughts either in the comments below, via Twitter or via email.

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s well-known admiration for all things American now extends to space exploration. Speaking to the BBC, a senior official involved in French space policy said that it was time to shake up the European Space Agency and make it more like NASA by giving it a new, politically-led direction. The French take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on 1 July and are planning to make space policy a key area for reform.

Sarkozy is looking for UK support to bolster his ideas. He wants to lead Europe into space in a way that doesn’t leave it trailing the likes of Indian, China and Japan.

Personally, i think he could do it. This guy is crazy enough and arrogant enough to get it done.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | France plans revolution in space

“Almost one in four secondary schools in England no longer has any specialist physics teachers, a survey suggests.”

BBC NEWS | Education | Physics teacher shortage warning

• 1 APOD: M81 Feeding a Black Hole
• 2 Shocked scientists say Martian soil could support life
• 3 Scientists: It Once Rained on Mars
• 4 What is Hanny”s Voorwerp?
• 5 Scientists Think Big Impact Caused Two-Faced Mars

To find out what”s popular right now, click here to visit Digg

You can also buy a similar design on a t-shirt from the Orbiting Frog Shop. Available in sizes for women, men and kids in many colours. Prices start at $18 (£9) for kids and $20 (£10) for adults, international delivery available. There is the design you see above and also a black and white, vertical option.

• 1 Life In Outer Space? Japan Astronomers Hunt Aliens
• 2 Martian Skies [PICS]
• 3 The Next Einstein? This is Amazing
• 4 "We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, *WATER ICE* on Mars! w00t!!!"
• 5 APOD: Solstice Moonrise, Cape Sounion

To find out what”s popular right now, click here to visit Digg

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Jodrell Bank future looks better

• 1 Super Black Holes: NASA mission seeks new laws of physics
• 2 Next-Gen Space Gear for Humanity”s Return to the Moon
• 3 How Do You Go #2 in Space?
• 4 APOD: At Last, GLAST
• 5 NASA: Every Rose Has A Thorn

To find out what”s popular right now, click here to visit Digg

“VLBI uses multiple radio telescopes to simultaneously observe the same region of sky. Essentially creating a giant instrument as big as the separation of the dishes. VLBI can generate images of cosmic radio sources with up to 100 times better resolution than images from the best optical telescopes.”

They are using the whole Earth as a container for a very, very big radio telescope. Hopefully there will be some very interesting results out of this arrangement in the near future.

Arecibo joins global network to create 6,000-mile telescope

Star Stryder - 2008 The Year of the Potato

Improbable Research - One into many

• 1 NASA Pioneers Method for Making Giant Lunar Telescopes
• 2 Biggest Eyes on the Universe Get Makeover
• 3 APOD: Two-Armed Spiral Milky Way
• 4 Astronomy study proves mathematics theorem
• 5 NASA Image of the Day Gallery - Preparing Kibo”s New Home

To find out what”s popular right now, click here to visit Digg

For a while now, I have been watching my Technorati rank gradually improve. I set myself what felt like a lofty goal of a technorati authority of 100. I am currently at 99. If you’ve ever wanted to throw me a link then now’s the time. All links to any post on Orbiting Frog help. I wanna break that barrier!

Of course after I achieve it I will need to set myself a new goal of 1000 (I’m logarithmic) which will be even harder to get. Hmm…