STARGAZER Moon tour Rupes Recta (Straight Wall)
How to find the most dramatic cliff on the face of the Moon If you have a small telescope, or a powerful pair of binoculars, and look to the lower left of the great triple-crater chain of Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Arzachel you will see – depending on the time of the month – either a short, dark line or a short, bright line. Moon atlases and phone apps identify it as ‘Rupes Recta’, and to be honest it doesn’t look like much at first glance, nothing more than a dark pencil line or a white chalk scratch drawn on the Moon’s round, grey face. But Rupes Recta has another name, and it is one of the most famous and beloved features on the…