Strategy
The best places to point your telescope lie along the terminator, the line that divides the Moon’s light and dark portions. Here you can spot the tops of mountains protruding just high enough to catch sunlight, while the surrounding lower terrain remains in shadow. On large crater floors, you can follow “wall shadows” cast by the towering sides of those craters. Features along the terminator change in real time and, during a night’s observing, the differences you’ll see through your telescope are striking. Observing on successive nights makes it easier to follow the terminator’s progress.
By far the greatest percentage of lunar features are craters. Craters range in size, so challenge yourself by finding the smallest crater you can see. Or see how many small craters (called craterlets) in a given area you can observe. For example, if you look at the floor of Plato Crater, a medium-size scope will reveal four craterlets, each about 1¼ miles (2 kilometers) across.
By the way, any quality telescope — of any type — will reveal lots of lunar details. Whether you own a 3-inch refractor, a 6-inch reflector, or a 14-inch SCT, you’ll see a lot. Observers without a permanent observatory usually pick a scope they can set up many nights in a row.