SL2 image distortion using APO-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/180

[tommydom]

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I have an SL2 and a  APO-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/180 and made a shot of two objects approximately 15 miles offshore from my position. I found an artifact of some kind in the picture that I can't seem to figure out. I have seen some horizon artifacts using this camera and lens combination (this is my longest lens, and it is not a daily driver, so I have some limited experience with long focal lengths) when shooting over the water at long distances. This one was strange for me as I see the light station on the left with what I expected, but the large cargo vessel to the right has a horizon artifact that starts at the end of the vessel and continues to the right side of the frame. I would have expected the artifact to be across the whole frame. I also recognize that the objects are at different distances, with the light station being closer than the cargo ship, and i may not have had a perfectly accurate infinity focus.

Any ideas on what happened in the cropped version of the picture? Is this a sensor interpretation of what was coming into the barrel of the lens, or is this something that should expect in this kind of frame using this lens?

Image attached is a C1 processed crop.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

Tommy.

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[beewee]

Looks like atmospheric refraction to me. At such long distances, air and surface temperatures can do weird stuff. Different parts of the water can have different depths, winds, and water/air temperatures which can cause localized refraction that is different from the surroundings.