A Whole Bunch of New Photos

We've been busy here at Casa P. Somehow I managed to get the family to sleep in the tent two weekends in a row. The first weekend in October was the Central Texas Star Party. We had an impressive lightning display Friday night (which I totally failed to get any pictures of) and a very windy Saturday night which shut down most of the observing. It was still a pleasant weekend out.

A large panorama of the Eagle Eye Observatory in the morning sunlight

While we in the area, we took a short side trip to Longhorn Cavern State Park. The cave is different from Carlsbad in that it was formed by flowing water--an underground river if you like. The tour took just over an hour and was well worth taking. I'm hoping to go back with the Cub Scouts soon.

The following weekend was the Pack 312 family camp out at Lake Bastrop. More great fall weather. Ian discovered that calling "Here fishy, fishy!" doesn't help much when attempting to catch a fish. It took him a while, but by Saturday night he was running around like a monkey with the rest of the boys.

The $700 FireWire Port

Let's face it--I love my Macs. And when Apple introduces new models, I get all drooly and my hands twitch around my credit cards. The new MacBooks and MacBook Pros introduced today are certainly drool-worthy: cool new milled-aluminum enclosures, way, way faster graphics, faster processors, etc. The MacBook even gets the backlit keyboard I've been lusting after. Oh, and they dropped the prices. Sweet!

But as Steve says, there's one more thing. The new MacBook? No FireWire port. No way to add one. Too bad, so sad. You want FireWire, get a 15" MacBook Pro.

The new MacBook. Notice the missing FireWire port.

So here's the deal. I use a wonderful little camera for planetary photography, the DMK21AF04.US. The "F" in that string of alphabet soup stands for FireWire. Sure, The Imaging Source also sells that camera in a USB 2 version. But you know what? There are no Mac drivers for it. And no matter what the USB folks say, FireWire has better sustained transfer rates. It's a fact, you can go look it up.

So what do I do? I put my credit card back in my wallet. Sorry Apple--you lost me this time around.

Make-Believe Maverick

From Rolling Stone:

In its broad strokes, McCain's life story is oddly similar to that of the current occupant of the White House. John Sidney McCain III and George Walker Bush both represent the third generation of American dynasties. Both were born into positions of privilege against which they rebelled into mediocrity. Both developed an uncanny social intelligence that allowed them to skate by with a minimum of mental exertion. Both struggled with booze and loutish behavior. At each step, with the aid of their fathers' powerful friends, both failed upward. And both shed their skins as Episcopalian members of the Washington elite to build political careers as self-styled, ranch-inhabiting Westerners who pray to Jesus in their wives' evangelical churches.

In one vital respect, however, the comparison is deeply unfair to the current president: George W. Bush was a much better pilot.

M31, the Andromeda Galaxy & M45, The Pleiades

Not a bad night of astroimaging from the Heritage Park Observatory. First up is another attempt at M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. Tight focus and pretty good tracking--except for the third of the frames where the guider lost the guide star. So here are 20 x 5 minutes worth through the AT80EDT mounted piggyback & guided with the LX200, captured with the Digital Rebel XT with Astronomik CLS filter, via Nebulosity & PHD guiding. To do this justice, I really need a moonless night that I can devote the entire night to it.



Here's one of my favorite things to attempt to image--M45, the Pleiades. It's bright and easy to see, except for the blue nebulosity. You can start to see the "brush strokes" in this one hour shot (12 x 5 minutes, same setup as above). The same thing applies--this needs about six times more exposure to help kill the noise.

Tiger Cub

We'll see how this works out. "Don't take my picture--I look like a dork."

The Telescope: 400 Years and Counting

A nice essay on Wired.com

Quick -- name the invention that has done most to redefine our place in the universe.

Hint: This invention was also the most seditious, blasphemous instrument of all time, shaking the very foundations of society.

The answer, if you haven't already guessed it, is the telescope. It's hard to believe that this instrument, often sold as a cheesy toy in gift shops, is perhaps the single most important scientific instrument of all time.

Now that the telescope is celebrating its 400th anniversary, it's a good time to take stock of this marvelous invention.

Time Travel

Part of me wonders what it would be like if you could travel back in time to repair your mistakes and make things better. Part of me worries this has already happened.

This IS Tina Fey

Scary good.

Bupkis

Another from XKCD:

Sixth Jupiter of the Year

Shot this right at dusk while Jupiter was transiting. Not too bad seeing, maybe 3-4/5. LRGB, DMK21AF04.US, 10" LX200 @ f/25

Hook 'Em Horns

Just in case my relatives in Fayetteville missed the game: UT 52, Arkansas 10

And in case they forgot: UT 52, Rice 10

This is Not Tina Fey

Straight Talk Express

An Insane Full Moon Photo

Bart Declercq in Haaltert, Belgium made this 23,000,000-pixel image of the 99.74% full moon with equipment similar to mine.

He writes:

Took a while to process, at 43 separate 1000 frame AVI's, up to 35 alignment points per AVI and 128 best images per point.

Taken with Celestron C9.25 in prime focus (F/10 = 2350mm) with DMK31 camera and infrared filter.

The original image is 4820x4820 pixels and 3.9 megabytes in size (the original 16-bits TIFF is 50 megabytes) and can be accessed here.

Next goal, on a high mid-winter full moon, is to do this at F/16, which should result in about a 64 million pixel image, and will require well over a hundred AVIs.

At the theoretical limit of my scope, it should be possible to go up to F/24, which will result in a roughly 200 million pixel image, but which would require more than 200 AVI's - the biggest problem with that would be that there's not enough time in one night to shoot such an image with the DMK31...

PMILF

I just may start taking more interest in Ukrainian politics.

I Stand By What I Said

From XKCD, one of my favorite web comics:

Fifth Jupiter of the Year (The Small One)

Drug the LX200 to Mansfield Dam last night for Dam Astronomers and shot this Jupiter. Seeing was pretty poor, so I took the Powermate out and shot this at f/10. LRGB with the DMK21AF04.US.

Talking Heads

I want to have Jon Stewart's love child.

Sunset, The Moon and Venus

The four-day-old crescent Moon and a brilliant Venus set over Cedar Park, Texas Wednesday.

<edit 5 Sept 08> I read today that this is a side-effect of Kasatochi Volcano erupting last month. We should be seeing this for a few more weeks.

More Advice on Raising Your Child

Most of the American populace thinks it improper to spank children, so I have tried other methods to control my kid when he has one of 'those moments.'

One that I found effective is for me to just take him for a car ride and talk.

Some say it's the vibration from the car, others say it's the time away from any distractions such as TV, video games, computer, iPod, etc.

Either way, my kid usually calms down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together. Eye to eye contact helps a lot too.

I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with him, in case you would like to use the technique.

First Day of School

Hard to believe he's a first-grader already. More pictures here.

Who Thought This Was a Good Idea™?

From CNN: Democrats to kick off convention with 'One Nation' theme

I mean, sure, I'm all in favor of unity and teamwork, but "One Nation?" Did no one at the DNC think maybe, just maybe, channeling 1930s Germany might not be the best course? "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer!" What's next, "God is with us?"

I would have expected this from the folks who brought us the Department of Fatherland Homeland Security, but the Dems? Come on! Sheesh.

Oh, and Hillary supporters? Get over it.

Portraits

I've admired these portraits (scroll down to the end) by fellow Austin Astronomical Society member Todd Hargis, so when we were both at the Eagle Eye Observatory last month, I talked him into shooting mine. I think he did a great job, given what he had to work with.

Another Olympic Swimmer

Sing it with me, to the tune of Camptown Ladies:

"Peter Van Den Hoogenband, do-dah, do-dah..."

Explaining Michael Phelps

From Sports Illustrated:

British swimmer Simon Burnett provided his theory to U.S. head coach Eddie Reese when they ran into each other in the cafeteria.

"He was saying to me, 'I think I've figured out Michael Phelps. He is not from another planet; he is from the future. His father made him and made a time machine. Sixty years from now he is an average swimmer, but he has come back here to mop up."'

Makes as much sense as John Naber's remark on NPR the other night that they need to re-measure the pool in Beijing, as it seems to be a little short.

NBC Can Bite My Mac-Using Ass

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Fourth Jupiter of the Year

Took a break from watching the Olympics to catch this Red Spot transit. There's also a smaller red spot on the northern equatorial band. The moon is Europa. Altitude here is 36°. 10" LX200 @ f/25, DMK21AF04, RGB. The L channel was just awful, so I left it off.

A Quarter-Century Too Late

My high school fantasy came true!

I Think He Hid It In The Tubes

Sen. Ted Stevens declared his innocence Tuesday after his indictment on charges that he concealed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts and services from a company in his home state.

I think he hid it in the tubes.

Why I love my Golden Retriever

Why our next dog will be a Sea Monkey | Dooce ®

A Pretty Good Joke

What do Winnie The Pooh and Alexander The Great have in common?

>>>They have the same middle name.

(Highlight the text to reveal the answer.)

M57, the Ring Nebula Again

A definite improvement over my 2006 attempt. This is the center crop of the full frame. The DSLR @ f/6.3 may not be the best camera for this small object; some day I'll try the DMK @ f/10 on it--if I can keep my guiding running smoothly enough.

30 x 240 sec, 10" LX200 @ f/6.3, 350D @ ISO 800, Astronomik CLS, guided with ST80/DSI/PHD Guiding

M27, The Dumbbell Nebula Again

Shot this for the July Digital Astro challenge. 30 x 240 seconds @ ISO 800, Astronomik CLS filter, Rebel XT, 10" LX200 @ f/6.3, captured & DDP with Nebulosity, guided with PHD Guiding. Definitely a step up since my 2006 attempt. The amazing part is that I shot this under a full moon.

Third Jupiter of the Year

Jupiter at 35°. Pretty good seeing at 1:30 this morning with just a moderate ripple. Jupiter was far enough west that it wasn't directly over the roof of the house. LRGB with the DMK21AF04 in the LX200 @ f/25.

Copernicus Crater

Click for full size.

Not the first time I've shot this crater, but definitely my best results to date. Mosaic of five shots, best of 2500 frames each with the DMK and a green filter through the LX200 @ f/25.

Plato and Vallis Alpes

Click for full size.

This may not be the smoothest, sharpest photo I've made of the Moon, but it does finally show the rille in the floor of Alpine Valley!

Second Jupiter of the Year

Should have shot this the night before when we had some 4/5 seeing, but tonight's not all bad. Call it 3/5. Best of 1000 frames each LRGB in the DMK through the LX200 @ f/25. Jupiter is at 36° altitude.

Feel The Excitement

Life Lesson #53

Never date a girl whose daddy calls her "Princess." Odds are, she believes him.

NGC 6888, The Crescent Nebula

Man, I had everything working--dead on focus, great tracking, and good, clear skies. How come this always happens on Sunday night? So I only shot NGC 6888, the Crescent Nebula for an hour, when it could probably stand about five. First run with the new Moonlight focuser and Astronomik CLS filter--I'm happy so far with both.

20 x 180 seconds, LX200 @ f/6.3, Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D), ISO 1600
Capture & processed with Nebulosity 2 (beta), guiding with PHD Guiding.

Happy Birthday To Me

Here's a real groaner to help me celebrate my birthday:

A couple lived near the ocean and used to walk the beach a lot. One summer they noticed a girl who was at the beach almost every day. She wasn't unusual, nor was the travel bag she carried, except for one thing; she would approach people who were sitting on the beach, glance around furtively, then speak to them.

Generally, the people would respond negatively and she would wander off. But occasionally someone would nod and there would be a quick exchange of money and something she carried in her bag. The couple assumed that she was selling drugs and debated calling the cops, but since they didn't know for sure, they just continued to watch her.

After a couple of weeks the wife said, 'Honey , have you ever noticed that she only goes up to people with boom boxes and other electronic devices?' He hadn't -- and said so. Then she said, 'Tomorrow I want you to get a towel and our big radio and go lie out on the beach. Then we can find out what she's really doing.'

Well, the plan went off without a hitch and the wife was almost hopping up & down with anticipation when she saw the girl talk to her husband and then leave. The man then walked up the beach and met his wife at the road.

'Well, Is she selling drugs?' she asked excitedly.

'No, she's not,' he said, enjoying this probably more than he should have.

'Well , what is it then? What does she do ?' his wife fairly shrieked.

The man grinned and said, 'She's a battery salesperson.'

'Batteries?' cried the wife.

'Yes', he replied - 'She sells C cells by the seashore!'

Texas Star Party Panorama for Starry Night Pro

I've posted a horizon panorama for the Texas Star Party for Starry Night here.

Refer to the Starry Night documentation for instructions on how to copy the .txt and .psd files into the Horizon Panoramas folder.

I Don't Think I'll Be Applying For This Job

I'm not really looking for a job, but I still get listings in my email. This one's been showing up for a while now; I wonder why?

Responsibilities - Doing the bidding of the Lead Artist, no matter how ridiculous his demands

First Jupiter of the Year

There are forces larger than myself conspiring against me. Here's the deal with planetary imaging. (Bear with me, it'll maybe make sense in the end.) I hope you already know that the Earth is tilted on its axis--that's why we have summer and winter. The plane of the solar system is called the ecliptic; it's the path that the sun and the planets appear to follow across the sky. In the summer, the sun is very high in the sky. The opposite side of that is that at night, when we're facing away from the sun, the planets are very low in the sky. That means that taking a picture of a planet in the summer requires shooting through miles and miles of turbulent atmosphere. It also means that from my back yard, shooting over the roof of my house, as it radiates heat like a blacktop road. All that to say I'm stunned this photo came out as well as it did. The moon to the right is Europa, and the black spot is Ganymede in front of the planet. The Great Red Spot is just visible on the lower right.




1000 frames each RGB with the DMK in the LX200 @ f/25. Processed with AstroIIDC.

M13, The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules Revisited

A little tighter than last year's shot, and maybe nicer color.

10" LX200 @ f/6.3, 19 x 120 sec, EOS 350 D @ 800 ISO

Euwww

Came across this on a message board today, talking about measurements:

Up here in canada a metre is a metre and a foot is something you find in the ocean!

Final Night at TSP

I had already packed everything except my chair and binoculars for the last night at Texas Star Party, so I wasn't too upset when clouds started building up that afternoon. By 11:00, it was pretty obvious we weren't going to get any astronomical observing in that night. (Which is OK, since I was trying to leave by eight the next morning.)

First time I've seriously tried to shoot lightning. Man, it's hard to find focus in the dark!

NGC 6992 & NGC 6960, The Veil Nebula

NGC 6992, Veil Nebula (East), aka Network Nebula. The modified camera shows a lot more detail than my stock Rebel. The extra stars I attribute to the dark West Texas TSP skies.



NGC 6960, Veil Nebula (West), aka Witch's Broom. The bright star is 52 Cygni.

M20, The Trifid Nebulaand M8, The Lagoon Nebula

I went back and re-shot M20 (top) and M8 (bottom) together from TSP. One of my best deep sky photos.

Southern Milky Way

Looking back toward the center of the Milky Way galaxy from the Texas Star Party.

Earthshine

The Moon is 2.67 days old here. The bright star is 52 Geminorium, in Gemini.

Moonset From Texas Star Party

The 31-hour-old new moon sets over the trees at Texas Star Party on Wednesday:

Two More From Texas Star Party

First up is M20, the Trifid Nebula. A much nicer shot than the one from two years ago.



Next is M16, the Eagle Nebula. I really should have spent more time on the focus on this one. I may reshoot it if I have time. Definitely looks different with the modded camera than it does in this shot from last year.



Both shot with the AT80EDT on the LXD650 mount, guided with PHD. Modified Digital Rebel XT @ ISO 1600. The guiding on the mount seems to be dialed in just about right; I'm getting nice round stars, and as I flip through each exposure, it looks pretty much just like the previous one. Yay me!

Texas Star Party 2008

OK, so I'm a day late reporting. Send me a bill.

According to the GPS:
Avg Speed: 65.8
Max Speed: 77.3
Trip Time: 6:47
Total Distance: 447 miles

I didn't see a thermometer when I got here, but it was probably about 100°. I think the official term is "fookin' hot." Somehow managed to avoid passing out from the heat and the altitude while I got setup, and even managed to sneak in a nap before it got dark. Nothing special to report about Sunday night, except that it's really dark here. =)

Monday night was some of the best skies I've ever seen. The seeing was just so-so, maybe 3-4/5, but the transparency was just outstanding. Twilight ends about 10:00 p.m., so it takes a while to get started. Nice display of zodiacal light at sunset. I'll try to find the gegenschein tonight, but I'm not sure I'd recognize it if I saw it.

I finished the regular observing program, "Globular Glory" last night and got my pin. I was inspired by the folks observing next to me with a 20-inch dob, and decided to do the list without using goto. I almost made it, but there were 2 objects I needed a little help with. It was pretty rewarding though to use some skills to find things.

Meanwhile, I had the camera shooting away in the 80mm and made this photo of M8, the Lagoon Nebula. Just a little better than the first two times I've shot it. =)



AT80EDT on the LXD650 mount, guided with PHD. Modified Digital Rebel XT @ ISO 1600.

Another Look at the Landing

From the JPL web site:

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera acquired this image of Phoenix hanging from its parachute as it descended to the Martian surface. Shown here is a 10 kilometer (6 mile) diameter crater informally called "Heimdall," and an improved full-resolution image of the parachute and lander. Although it appears that Phoenix is descending into the crater, it is actually about 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) in front of the crater.

If You Didn't See It Already

This is by far one of the most amazing photos I think I've ever seen: 

NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander can be seen parachuting down to Mars, in this image captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This is the first time that a spacecraft has imaged the final descent of another spacecraft onto a planetary body.

From a distance of about 310 kilometers (193 miles) above the surface of the Red Planet, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter pointed its HiRISE obliquely toward Phoenix shortly after it opened its parachute while descending through the Martian atmosphere. The image reveals an apparent 10-meter-wide (30-foot-wide) parachute fully inflated. The bright pixels below the parachute show a dangling Phoenix. The image faintly detects the chords attaching the backshell and parachute. The surroundings look dark, but correspond to the fully illuminated Martian surface, which is much darker than the parachute and backshell.

I Can't Believe I Didn't Already Know This

Did you know you can sing "Amazing Grace" to the tune of Gilligan's Island?

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see

Meanwhile, it's just over a week until the Texas Star Party, and I'm getting all excited. I think I have most of my gear together, except Ian broke one of my red flashlights. My fault, really, for leaving it in the back seat of the car. I'm planning on taking the LX200 and the the AT80EDT/LXD650, so I expect to have a full car. Oh, and I got a rack to put the bike on the roof. It had better be a good trip, 'cause if gas keeps going the way it is, it may e a while until we make the trip again.

A Useful Astronomical Accessory

I have a little 7 amp-hour 12-volt battery that I use to power a red neon light out in the observatory--the battery is a "jump starter" from Radio Shack. Turns out it's also useful for when your child plays in your car and leaves the headlights on and you find it dead the next morning on your way to work. Imagine, using a jump-start battery to start your car!

Voter I.D.

There's been a bunch of talk recently about requiring a government-issued photo I.D. along with a voter registration card at a polling place, and the various problems associated with doing so. I see a solution, and it's so simple I can't be the only person thinking this: 

Make the voter registration card a photo I.D. 

How hard can that be? Hell, my Sam's Club card has my picture on it, surely the State of Texas can figure it out. And you want to go one better? Engineer it in such a way that residents of a border state can use it as I.D. to leave and enter the country from their home state instead of a passport.

Fourth Saturn of the Year

First halfway decent seeing in weeks--3/5 according to CSC. Compare this one to the one I shot when Saturn was at opposition. The rings aren't nearly as bright as they were with the sun falling directly on them.

Sadly, This Describes My Job

Nation Demands Easier Instructions

WASHINGTON, DC-Decrying needlessly confusing directions for the use and assembly of countless products, citizens across the nation are organizing advocacy groups to demand that American manufacturers simplify the instructions they place on packaging.

No joke. I did a 4-page instruction for a pair of pliers.

The Furminator

This was after the second session; we're maybe a third of the way done.

A Sort of Small Bigness

Jenna Bush discussing her upcoming wedding on Larry King Live:

"[It will be] outdoors, very small wedding, you 'know, very small, all relatives, our families, really, kind of big," Jenna Bush said.

I guess she gets it from her dad.

A Modest Proposal

Now that spring is fully here, it's time to think about baseball.

Baseball has simple rules: Nine players, not ten. A grass field. A wooden bat. That's all.

So what the deuce is the deal with college baseball? They can't get even one of those things right. "The designated hitter digs in; here's the pitch--tink! It's a screaming grounder up the middle as it takes a fast hop off the artificial surface..."

So I hereby propose that college "baseball" be re-labeled as college "baseball-flavored sport," just like "chocolate" milk and American "cheese."

Messier Marathon: The Movie

Ralph Menga and Frank Boecker put together this wonderful video highlighting their Messier Marathon this year. That's a lot of shooting in one night--my hat's off to these two fellow Mac astronomers for giving it a go!

A Joke To Pass The Time

Until there's something more interesting to say, enjoy this funny bit:

A man goes to a shrink and says, "Doctor, my wife is unfaithful to me. Every evening, she goes to Larry's bar and picks up men. In fact, she sleeps with anybody who asks her! I'm going crazy. What do you think I should do?"

"Relax," says the doctor. "Take a deep breath and calm down. Now, tell me, exactly where is Larry's bar?"

100 Objects

The family & I took advantage of that great weather and went to Canyon of the Eagles an the Eagle Eye Observatory last night. This is the time of year for staying up late for a Messier Marathon, and I nearly made it. I managed to view 100 out of the 110, not a bad night's work. I really should have tried last month, but the weather wasn't cooperating, so there were a couple already below the horizon at sunset. I pooped out about 4:00 a.m., so I missed some early morning ones, but in between I saw a trove of goodies. I didn't make notes, but I recall the Sombrero Galaxy (M104), the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) and Bode's & Cigar Galaxies (M81/82) as particularly stunning.

Something I Haven't Seen Nearly Enough Of

Guess where we're going tonight? =)

Just For Comparison, Part II

The Associated Press writes today, "Scientists plan to put one of the twin Mars rovers to sleep and limit the activities of the other robot to fulfill a NASA order to cut $4 million from the program's budget, mission team members said Monday."

The story continues, "Both rovers were originally planned for three-month missions at a cost of $820 million, but are now in their fourth year of exploration. It costs NASA about $20 million annually to keep the rovers running."

Remember that number: $20 million a year.

Meanwhile, MSNBC is reporting on the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's report on the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "The Pentagon is spending about $6 billion a month on the war in Iraq, or about $200 million a day, according to the CBO."

Two. Hundred. Million. Dollars. A day.

That means in just under two and a half hours, the Pentagon has spent the entire annual budget for the Mars Exploration Rovers. What a waste.

What a senseless, stupid, fucking waste.

Just For Comparison

Project Apollo:
Cost (in 2006 dollars): $135 billion
Lives Lost: 3 (Apollo 1: Grissom, White & Chaffee)

Operation Iraqi Freedom:
Cost: $406 billion (White House estimate through 12/07)
Lives Lost: 3998 US Military fatalities (as of 3/17/08), 82,249 – 89,760 Iraqi civilian deaths (as of 2/16/08)

Montes Apenninus, Montes Caucasus & Montes Alpes

I didn't really set out to make this mosaic--it just sort of happened. Could have used one more frame on the southern end, but oh well. 12,500 frames total. 10" LX200 @ f/10.

Rima Hadley (Apollo 15) is just visible near the northern end of the Apennines. The rille in Vallis Alpes is almost there; I'm not convinced it's not a processing artifact.

Rupes Recta, The Straight Wall

9-day-old moon. Ran off 2500 frames with the DMK21AF04/green filter in the 10" LX200 @ f/10 in lousy 2/5 seeing. Used 15 alignment points in Registax. NO WAVELETS. Brought the stacked image over to Lynkeos 2 on the Mac and ran 40 iterations of Richardson-Lucy deconvolution, and then a mild unsharp mask. Levels adjusted in Photoshop.

First time I've tried RL deconvolution--I like it. Very smooth.

Info from Wikipedia:

Rupes Recta is a linear fault on the Moon, in the southeastern part of the Mare Nubium at 22.1° S 7.8° W. The name is latin for "Straight Fault", although it is more commonly called the Straight Wall. This is the most well-known escarpment feature on the Moon, and is a popular target for amateur astronomers.
When the sun illuminates the feature at an oblique angle at about day 8 of the lunar orbit, the Rupes Recta casts a wide shadow that gives it the appearance of a steep cliff. The fault has a length of 110 km, a typical width of 2-3 km, and a height of 240-300 m. Thus although it appears to be a vertical cliff in the lunar surface, in actuality the grade of the slope is relatively shallow.
To the west of this escarpment is the Birt crater, which is about 10.5 miles in diameter. Also to the west is the Rima Birt rille. At the southern end is a group of hills often called the "Stag's-Horn Mountains", although this name is not officially recognized by the IAU.

Crater Langrenus

North is to the left in this shot of Crater Langrenus on the eastern shore of Mare Fecunditatis. Noisier than I would have wanted, but the seeing was maybe 2/5 with a very rapid ripple. DMK21AF in the LX200 @ f/10.