These photographs, text and web page designs are © Copyright 1997 - 2026
Emmanuele Sordini, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
Contents may not be reproduced, published, copied or transmitted in any form, including electronically, without written permission of the author.

Tutti i contenuti (fotografie, testi e design del sito) © Copyright 1997 - 2026
Emmanuele Sordini, se non diversamente specificato. Tutti i diritti riservati.
I contenuti non possono essere riprodotti, pubblicati, copiati o trasmessi sotto alcuna forma, incluso per via elettronica, senza il permesso scritto dell\'autore.

Author Archives: emmanuele-sordini

Just back from JavaPolis

This is the first time ever I take part in a conference abroad (i.e. outside Italy). Although I stayed there only for one day and a half, I must really congratulate the BeJUG on the top-notch organization of this event. Here are the main strengths of this JavaPolis edition: Impeccable organization, capable of standing a 2800-person horde with virtually no glitch; High-quality agenda, with a lot of interesting speeches and hands-on sessions; Terrific all-u-can-eat and all-u-can-drink buffet with some real […]

By Emmanuele Sordini Computing 15 December 2006 0

Bound for JavaPolis

On the 13th of december, Fabrizio Giudici and I will be giving a short talk (as a BOF session) on a Java-based parallel computing project of ours. This very application describes an application of parallel computing to image processing, with a view also to astronomy-oriented tasks. You can find the full description of our BOF session at this link. Many of you may know that parallel computing applications have recently come of age. The so-called “Moore’s Law” of computing power […]

By Emmanuele Sordini Computing / Senza categoria 11 December 2006 0

29 March 2006: The Sun turns black over Egypt!

Six months after the October 3rd, 2005, annular eclipse (see the complete report), here comes a total eclipse, the second in my observing record after the last one of the 20th century (1999). This time, the Moon’s shadow path starts in eastern Brazil, quickly dives into the Atlantic Ocean and touches back ground in Africa on the shores of Ghana. Then, it cuts its way through the African continent from SW to NE across the Libyan desert and skims Egypt’s […]

By Emmanuele Sordini Astronomy: reports 15 April 2006 0

Tuning the Synta EQ6: a “Technical Nightmare!”

In fall 2004 my beefiest mount was a Losmandy GM8, which I still happily own. The most obvious upgrade would have been the G11, but back then, I simply could not afford it. The Synta EQ6 was a very cheap option, widely known for its very good price/performance ratio but also for its poor mechanical quality. I ran into a (like new) used one, which I paid about 750, or almost 1/4 of a new G11. In december 2004, I […]

By Emmanuele Sordini Astronomy: reviews 20 January 2006 0

Skywatcher ED80 refractor preview

It’s been quite a while (actually at least fifteen years 😉 ) since chinese-made products hit the amateur astronomy market. At the beginning, only small accessories such as adapter rings, eyepieces, prisms and finders were made in the Far East by Japanese, European and American companies to cut down on costs. Then came low-end complete telescopes such as small department-store refractors and reflectors, up to 150 mm in aperture; anyway, medium- and high-end OTAs and mounts were still largely dominated […]

By Emmanuele Sordini Astronomy: reviews 12 October 2005 0

3 October 2005: the Ring of Light!

This was the first time I ever watched an annular eclipse, after the total one back in 1999. I already knew, but I can now confirm, that annular eclipses are generally less spectacular than total ones, especially in cases where the Moon is known to be significantly smaller than the Sun (the so-called magnitude of the eclipse). Anyway, it’s a wonderful natural event which the serious amateur astronomer should never miss, at least once in a lifetime. Moreover, if one […]

By Emmanuele Sordini Astronomy: reports 7 October 2005 0

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These photographs, text and web page designs are © Copyright 1997 - 2026
Emmanuele Sordini, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
Contents may not be reproduced, published, copied or transmitted in any form, including electronically, without written permission of the author.
Tutti i contenuti (fotografie, testi e design del sito) © Copyright 1997 - 2026
Emmanuele Sordini, se non diversamente specificato. Tutti i diritti riservati.
I contenuti non possono essere riprodotti, pubblicati, copiati o trasmessi sotto alcuna forma, incluso per via elettronica, senza il permesso scritto dell'autore.