luckily you clarified that at the end there Mike, otherwise I would have thought two things...
1 - You've lost your mind..
2 - What the hell is that guy talking about
I suppose rather than attempting to change the colour, the object of this repro was to try and increase the contrast between the bright and dark areas of the background stars... I think in the first, the background stars are lacking in colour a bit, and the darker dust lanes seem a little muted.. I was trying to add punch to it a bit.. giving it a bit more dynamic range I suppose..
I'll have another go at it.. aiming for the same colours, with the contrast enhancements.. Well see how I go..