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A 'proper' telescope gives you the thrilling sensation of actual photons from a distant planet hitting you square in the eyeballs, that is a pretty fucking awesome experience. If you never have I suggest you try it ASAP, local amateur astronomy club maybe?
My Pixel 5 has an astrophotography mode and I've had a lot of fun with just a tripod and my phone. The results weren't incredible but it did give me a taste for something a bit more. And the price on the Seestar is so tempting!
RonAsheton-
'proper' telescope gives you the thrilling sensation of actual photons from a distant planet hitting you square in the eyeballs,
You (possibly) can see the Andromeda galaxy and its about 2.5 million light-years away currently. I mean, fuck me! Its travelled without hitting anything else, for 2.5 million years, to finally hit these balls of goop.
ChainBreaker
You make some good points. The smart telescopes (particularly the Seestar) are very attractive to me because of the relative simplicity, but I wonder longer term whether a 'proper' telescope would be better. As a rank amateur with an interest it's hard to know what to go for