Thanks Richard for the confirmation!
It's also always nice to get some feedback on what one writes.
CHEAT!
There is one thing that both lunar and planetary observing require, and that is
patience.
There is no shortcut to this. And the reason is the environment that our eyes are looking into a high contrast situation of a very bright Moon or planet against a jet black background, and surface details that are actually of low contrast set atop of the bright Moon or planet.
If you rush, being impatient to see details, you will miss those fine details that our telescopes are actually very capable of providing.
Patience creates experience, and that experience will have you slow down so that you can get your eye in on the difficult conditions our eyes are being required to look into.
With the Moon, there are so many fine details that will only reveal themselves with patience. Lacework-like fine riles, clusters of tiny craterlets that pepper the floor of a flooded crater, identifying domes/volcanoes from the surrounding features, the fine and subtle shading & lines along the terraced walls of massive craters that reveal that these are the result of landslides these are all the sorts of features that require a patient eye.
CHALLENGE!
There are three very small craters that I will use as one of two challenges I will make in this article. These three craters are Armstrong, Collins & Aldrin. They form a straight line in their orientation in Mare Tranquilitatus. Armstrong is the largest of the trio at 5km in diameter, Aldrin the smallest at about 2.5km in diameter. These sizes might sound BIG, but from here on Earth, they are getting to be the smallest craters we can see. If your scope is less than 5 in aperture, you will not see these as they are too small for scopes smaller than 5 to resolve.
Patience is the key to spotting this trio when the lunar phase is favourable (between 5 days old and 7 days old being optimal. Good seeing conditions are also necessary Remember, these craters ARE VERY BLOOMING SMALL! You will need good seeing conditions.
Rush, and you will not see them. Give your eye the chance to adapt to the difficult brilliance of Mare Tranquilitatus. These three craters have no prominent landmarks close by to assist with spotting them. The available landmarks are far away and the entire exercise will test your patience. But they are visible.
Oh, and you will not be able to see the Apollo 11 landing site. Not even the Hubble Space Telescope is capable of seeing the site - and they tried! The Apollo 11 landing site, and that of the other 5 landing locations were only visible just a few years ago by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
NASA photograph.
Alex.