Though overcast I rolled the gear out and and set it up, just in case it might clear up. It did - for an hour - which I used for scope collimation on the star Hamal. What do you think of the defocused star? Clean and concentric or lousy? Collimation is like Russian roulette but with three bullets. Then overcast with dark clouds again, but after about an hour clear again like a miracle.
Can't remember when I last encountered a clear and calm air, though it was quite warm and humid. I abused the favorable condition for a lunar mosaic with an IR-cut filter (usually working with an IR642 band pass) on a monochrome camera (IMX178). No issues with ringing or double structures. A favorable atmosphere is irreplacable and does make a giant difference indeed. The mosaic consists of 13 panels, 4ms at gain 120, 60fps, 400 frames each.
After the mosaic I took a number of images without and with a 2x tubeless barlow plus IR642 band pass on an IMX290 camera still benefitting from relatively steady air though gradually worsening.
After leaving Luna, Mars, high up in the sky, was the next target. Thanks to the good condition this turned out to be my best Mars images ever with only a weak edge ringing at the western limb which Registax painlessly compensated for. Just quick shots with merely an OSC.
At that point my molar tooth broke into pieces after almost three years without visiting a dentist. Now it is time to pull out the remnants which looks like the crater Tycho filled up with chicken.
Apart from this little traitor I still have, yes, all my natural fangs, some of'm even gold plated.
You have to use a clear sky as if it was the last one.
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