So I have to ask - am I getting a more "genuine" viewing experiencing? Are stacking and perhaps AI enhancements reflecting the real night sky? Or is SeeStar/iPhone/Pixel output drifting more towards generative art?
With photos you can have a longer exposure and see things too faint for the naked eye, not just too small. I'd guess that's what's happening here. You could very probably blow this smart cam out of the water with pictures taken through your telescope. Especially if you can have it track whatever you're shooting to allow very long exposures
There are some night-vision eyepieces which boost contrast and lightness - really cool but also pretty expansive.
> am I getting a more "genuine" viewing experiencing? That's a nearly philosophical question and the answer is yes and no. You will be able to see object you normally would not and the image you get is correct in the way that colors for example represent certain gases, so they are not fake, but also not realistic in the way of how you would see it with your naked eye.
With an 8 inch dob, things like globular clusters are going to look granular and pretty amazing in reasonably dark skies. Similar for bright nebula.
But, yes, it's a philosophical question.
Take the Orion Nebula as an example. Visually I can't see anything there. But even a short (~30 second) exposure in a single frame (no stacking, or darks, or any fancy technique) brings on a stunning image.