It's been really cloudy for the past few weeks and I haven't had a chance to take the scope out. Tonight it cleared up enough to do some visual astronomy on the Moon. I was able to see the Straight Wall (Rupes Recta) which I never really focused much on until tonight. It's a fault, in the southeastern part of Mare Nubium and they think it's linked to the lava flooding in that region. I also noticed this neat play on shadows near Tycho that looks like a Z or flashy M or lightening bolt I have never noticed before. I haven't been able to find anything on it online yet but it would be intersting to see if other people have noticed it. Sometimes our brains interpret shadows and/or cloud formations differently.

It was a very enjoyable hour of observing. It's nice and relaxing to take the scope out with just the eyepieces and the Alt-Az mount sometimes without having to worry about any polar alignment or all the silly things we have to do to get a decent night of EAA observing. It makes you feel a lot closer and more intimate with the sky.

Hopefully it clears up real soon so I can knock out the last few Messiers I want to get better images of. I only have about 16 that I need to update.