2022 Mars opposition - Any BackyardEOS users out there?

Larry Rexley wrote:

After trying for months to optimize my planetary photography with a relatively small Meade ETX-125 and Canon 'M' mirrorless cameras, yesterday I tried out 'BackyardEOS', software that lets you control your camera and even capture images to your PC.

I was previously using a Canon M200 because it could take uncropped 4k video for the smallest pixel size, which I could then convert to cropped AVI video using PIPP software, then chose the best frame and stack with AutoStakkert, then sharpen with Registax (a fairly standard planetary workflow).

With BackyardEOS I realized I could use the Canon M6ii and get full pixel resolution using Backyard EOS with its 5x magnification view, and on the laptop I could capture nearly 30 frames per second AVI video at full pixel resolution for processing.

I used it last night to capture Mars near opposition, with excellent results. I compared my final image with those taken from Pic du Midi at Mars opposition 2020, and found that the detail shown in my image is 'real detail' which lines up with the Pic du Midi images almost perfectly. Seeing conditions were good, Mars was near opposition and near the zenith, and the Canon M6ii's sensor has very fine pixels with its APS-C 32 MP resolution. My result seems to be just about the best you can get with such a small (5" aperture) instrument, and I was quite surprised at how well it did.

Are others using BackyardEOS (or BackyardNikon)? I'm curious to hear about your experiences. I'm already sold on the software... it was so much easier to focus the scope by looking at the image on a laptop monitor, as well as controlling the camera settings and taken the images totally hands-off, using the laptop!

Here is the result:

Mars near 2022 opposition, with the Northern polar cap and Sirtis major feature clearly visible. Taken on 12/8/2022: Canon M6ii, Meade ETX-125, 1.5x Kenko SHQ teleconverter, Captured with hi-res video using BackyardEOS software to a laptop at 5x magnification (pixel resolution), processed with PIPP, Autostakkert (1.5x drizzle; 1500 best frames of 4000 total), Registax wavelets, and DxO Photolab 6

For comparison, here's an image taken from Pic du Midi, where some of the best Earth-based pictures of Mars are taken. My image is taken in a different Mars season, so the Northern polar ice cap is visible, in the 2020 image below the Southern polar ice cap was more prominent as it was 'winter' in the Southern hemisphere of Mars:

The image is from this web site:

https://www.cieletespace.fr/actualites/l-opposition-de-mars-photographiee-depuis-le-pic-du-midi

Some more captures last night of Mars and Jupiter. Unfortunately seeing was not so good so the images aren't as good as I know this equipment can do.

I got a ZWO Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector from agena astro for $128 to correct the chromatic 'fringing' Jupiter shows when not as high in the sky. I found it works actually very well and it did remove the 'blue' and 'red' fringing caused by atmospheric refraction. So my images in theory should be sharper than what I've posted so far, on nights of good seeing.

I wanted to shoot with my Meade 2x barlow which is a very good magnification to use with my Meade ETX-125 and the Canon M6ii at pixel resolution. In order to do this, I ended up getting a male-to-male T thread (M42x0.75) adapter, and found that you can buy a very short Canon EOS M T-ring (Celestron makes one)... using the ADC's eyepiece tube on the front instead of the rear, and using the male-to-male adapter on the rear of the ADC, and with a female-to-female T adapter (made by removing the T-thread ring from a spare T-ring I had lying around), I was able to put the barlow optics right in front of the ADC, and the very short distance from the rear of the ADC to the sensor gave me about the right 2x magnification. You can see this in the shot of my setup below.

So comfortable to view and focus the image on the laptop sitting in a chair, rather than leaning over the scope trying to fiddle with the camera!

Jupiter and Io. Canon M6ii, Meade ETX-125, Meade 2x barlow, ZWO ADC, best 666 of 4000 frames captured with BackyardEOS at 5x (pixel) magnification, 1/100s, ISO 1250 gain, processed with PIPP, Autostakkert, Registax wavelets, and DxO PhotoLab 6

Pic du Midi Mars 2020 opposition image compared to my Mars image taken with Canon M6ii, Meade ETX-125, Meade 2x barlow, ZWO ADC, best 1333 of 4000 frames captured with BackyardEOS at 5x (pixel) magnification, 1/200s, ISO 640 gain, processed with PIPP, Autostakkert, Registax wavelets, and DxO PhotoLab 6

Meade ETX-125 with Meade rear T-thread photo adapter, female to female T adapter, the ZWO ADC's 1.25" eyepiece holder (male to male T thread) with Meade barlow optics, ZWO ADC, male-to-male T-adapter, short Celestron EOS M T-ring, and Canon M6ii tethered to Dell laptop with USB-C to USB cable, running BackyardEOS in Planetary capture mode

The Meade ETX-125 tube assembly is mounted on an iOptron SkyGuider Pro star tracker equatorial mount with 2 counterweights, on a Meade heavy-duty field tripod.