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Summer sky from the Alps

Of the magnificent clockwork of the heavens



Here's one of my first attemps at assembling time-lapse movies of the nightsky. Though there's still much room for improvement, I think the overall result is pleasing. Use of full-screen mode (by clicking on the four diverging arrow) is highly recommended.

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Total Lunar Eclipse of June 15th, 2011

Our satellite puts on a nice show


On June 15th, 2011, a total lunar eclipse took place over most of Asia and Europe. Here is the full report of the event, with pictures and much more.

>>>> CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REPORT (IN ENGLISH) <<<<

Il 15 di giugno 2011 si è verificata un'eclisse totale di Luna visibile dalla maggior parte dell'Asia e dall'Europa. Ecco il resoconto completo dell'evento, con numerose foto e molto altro.

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Saturno/Saturn

The Ringed Giant strikes back


Between March 20 and March 25, 2011 a high pressure system was lingering over Central Europe and Northern Italy. Although the area where I reside is certainly not renowned for its seeing conditions, on March 24 I managed to pull off a resonably decent image of Saturn. Click on the "Read more..." link below for the full story!

Alla fine di marzo 2011 un'area di alta pressione ha interessato l'Europa Centrale e il Nord Italia. Sebbene l'area dove abito non sia particolarmente rinomata per le condizioni del seeing, il 24 marzo sono comunque riuscito a strappare un'immagine decente. Cliccate sul link qua sotto ("Read more...") per il resoconto completo!

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Comet Hartley 2 flies by

Comet 103/P Hartley 2

In October 2010 the periodic comet 103/P Hartley 2 put up a nice show during its most favorable comeback since its discovery back in the mid 1980s, passing at around 0.1 AU from the Earth.

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Kissing two ol' pals goodbye

My experience as an American astronomical magazine subscriber comes to an end (maybe)

Sky And Telescope and Astronomy magazine covers

After being an Astronomy and Sky & Telescope reader for almost two decades, most likely I won’t renew my three-year subscription to Sky & Telescope which is due to expire in March 2011.

Click on the link below for the full story!

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Addio a due vecchie "amiche"

Ovvero: come "voltare pagina" con le riviste di astronomia

Sky & Telescope and Astronomy covers

Dopo esser stato abbonato ad Astronomy and Sky & Telescope per quasi vent’anni, ho deciso che molto probabilmente rinnoverò l’abbonamento triennale a Sky and Telescope che scadrà a marzo del 2011. Cliccate sul link qua sotto per saperne di più!

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Eyjafjallajökull's volcanic ash cloud in Google Earth

How to turn a volcano-ruined vacation into a programming opportunity :-)

I haven't posted anything on this blog for a long time. For once, I come back with something that  is not related to my main hobby, astronomy. As was the case for many other people, my vacation plans got screwed up by the Eyjafjallajökull icelandic volcano spewing a cloud of ash that caused thousands of flights in most Europe to be grounded.

The entity responsible for issuing periodic updates and forecast on the evolution of the ash cloud is the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center of the UK Met Office.  I managed to turn my missed vacation into a programming opportunity, by writing a very simple java program that turns these bulletins into KML files, which can be visualized using Google Earth's advanced 3-D features:



Click on the link below ("Read more...") for the full story!

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Total Solar Eclipse of July 22, 2009: Final Report!

Hunt for Black Sun



Finalmente, sono riuscito a rendere disponibile online il resoconto dettagliato della mia avventura alla rincorsa dell'eclisse totale di Sole più lunga del XXI secolo. Una cronaca quasi "minuto per minuto", ricca di immagini, filmati e molto altro!

A detailed report of my last adventure to observe the longest total solar eclipse of XXI century is finally available online. Almost a "real-time" logbook with many pictures, movies and much more!

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Total Solar Eclipse of July 22, 2009: a sneak preview

Desperately seeking a break in the clouds


Digital composite of solar eclipse at totality (from 28 frames with different exposure times; 600-mm refractor). Pictures by Emmanuele Sordini, processing by Lorenzo Comolli

Knowing how to anticipate and outsmart the weather and its vagaries. That's what chasing solar eclipses is often all about. The Total Solar Eclipse (TSE) of July 22, 2009, will probably be long remembered more for the views of clouds and thunderstorms than of a dazzling corona eclipses can often treat us with.
Nevertheless, I managed to pull off some rather decent shots, of which this post is just a very short preview. So, click on the "Read more" link below for some more pictures, but check back often because I will soon be posting a complete report of my adventure!

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Chasing Comet Lulin

Another "snowball" from the outer solar system

Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin

Nel febbraio del 2009, la cometa C/2007 N3 Lulin e' passata vicino alla Terra, offrendoci un bello spettacolo con un'anticoda mutevole ed appariscente.  >>> Cliccare qui per il resoconto completo in italiano! <<<

In February 2009, comet C/2007 N3 Lulin zipped past our planet Earth, putting on quite a bit of a show and sporting a bright and ever-changing anti-tail. >>> Click here for a complete report in English! <<<

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2009: International Year of Astronomy / Anno Internazionale dell'Astronomia

The universe is your to discover / L'universo... a te scoprirlo!

IYA 2009

2009 is the International Year of Astronomy.  Finally an unmissable, long-awaited opportunity has come: that of sharing the knowledge and passion for the wonders of the Universe with the general public. I am a not a professional astronomer, but as a long-time amateur, I am really excited about it. For this reason, I will strive to give my small - yet passionate - contribution to this big collective effort!

Il 2009 è l'Anno Internazionale dell'Astronomia. Finalmente questa imperdibile opportunità a lungo attesa: condividere la conoscenza e la passione per le meraviglie dell'Universo con il pubblico. Non sono un astronomo professionista, ma in quanto astrofilo di vecchia data non posso che esserne contento. Per tale ragione, farò il possibile per dare il mio piccolo - ma appassionato - contributo a questo grande sforzo collettivo!

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Snow and sunshine in the Apennines

Where the sea and the sky blend into one



On January 4, 2009, it was very cold, but crystal clear and sunny. I could not pass up this opportunity, and decided to go snowwalking with some friends on top of Monte Penna, one of Ligurian Apennines' most famous and prominent peaks (el. 1735 m); the conditions were really favorable also for trying to put together a panoramic view of the gorgeous landscape we enjoyed from up there.

This trip turned out to be one of the most beautiful snow walks I've ever done in my life. Click on the link below to read the full report!

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M1 - Crab Nebula

Most famous supernova remnant

On December 21, 2008, I went on a short observing session, which was hautned by several problems with my setup. However, I did manage to pull off a picture of M1, aka the Crab Nebula, with my Vixen refractor and my Canon EOS 350D digital reflex. This object is just a smudge of light of about 7 x 5 arcminutes across, so it's really small compared with the whole frame, which I had to heavily crop. Here is the result:


Some info on the picture: Vixen ED103 SWT refractor, Canon EOS 350D DSLR, 11 x 10-minute individual exposures, 3 dark frames, autoguiding with the MagZero MZ-5m and an 80-mm guide scope. Processing done with DeepSkyStacker and Adobe Photoshop CS3. Zenital sky brightness measured with SQM-L: 20.60.
This shot is plagued by quite a few defects (namely, bad focusing and tracking), but it can make do as my first attempt at shooting M1. More (and hopefully better ones) will come!

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DEVOXX 2008

Belated report :-) to start off 2009 right



Ok, I know: I should have written this post more than a month ago. But I’ve been very busy lately and I have to process my backlog of work, including new updates to this website. After all, they say “better late than never”...
So, here we go: the 2008 edition of the Devoxx conference (formely JavaPolis: by the way, why the heck did Sun have this name changed?) was held (as usual) in Antwerp, Belgium, from December 10th to 12th, after the two-day Devoxx University.
This was my second time at Devoxx, after 2006 when I had managed to take part as a speaker (having held a BoF together with my ol’ pal Fabrizio Giudici ).

Click on the link below for the full report.

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The Pleiades and the Andromeda galaxy

Two deep-sky classics that will never let you down :-)


The last weekend of September, I took part in the first edition of the Caprauna Star Party, which took place in the Ligurian Alps, the initial stretch of the Alpine range which is also the lowest and closest to the seaside.

The nice venue and the top-notch organization of the star party more than made up for the not so exceptional weather. As for my “imaging loot”, since I had joined in at the very last moment, I hadn’t had enough time to better plan my session, so I improvised and went with two deep-sky classics: M31 (the Andromeda Galaxy) and M45 (the Pleiades Cluster). Click on the link below for more details and high-resolution pictures!

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