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0. I aligned and median combined the 3 files you had using CCDStack. I ran data reject on hot/cold pixels and interpolate rejected pixels.
It seems to make an image a bit freer of artifacts although perhaps just a habit.
1. I deconvolved the image, 40 iterations - deconvolution is easily overdone.
2. levels and curves to bring it up to view. Keep the last part of the curve straight so as not to blow out the highlights.
3. Gradient Xterminator to reduce the slight gradient.
4. Clone tool set to 25% to get rid of that blotch in the background left side - maybe a dust donut from the camera.
5. I did soft light layer at about 25% to darken the background a tad and increase contrast.
6. I did selective sharpening/contrast boost by duplicate layer set to soft light, high pass filter set to maximum (not just 7 pixels but 100)
then layer/layer mask/hide all blended the sharpened increased contrast layer in with a white brush set to about 25% or less as the enhanced layer was quite bright.
7. I then set opacity of that layer to about 70% and ran a gaussian blur of about 20 pixels to the mask to prevent sharp boundaries.
8. I then duplicated that layer twice to enhance the effect more.
9. I flattened the layer.
10. I used an inverted mask to apply Noise Ninja only to the dim areas.
I used a Noel Carboni reduce deep space noise action to reduce background noise.
11. I used the blur tool to smooth out some noisy areas at the edge of the galaxy that were still noisy.
12. I used the smudge tool to nudge a few of the eggy stars to be more round (about 5 or 6 of them).
13. I used the sponge tool set to burn to enhance the dark regions of the galaxy and set it low.
14. Somehow the image was 180 degrees back to front so I rotated it.
15. I cropped the image as there was a stacking black edge on some of the sides.
16. A very slight curves to boost it a tad (hardly at all).
17. Reduced the file size and set it to 8 bit image and save as a jpeg, 5 times scanned and maximum resolution.
Thats it. Sounds like a lot but I suppose it took 20-25 minutes to do. I am pretty used to these tools though.
I tried a gradient removal technique I sometimes use but its fussy and there is something about it I don't 100% understand so I need to restudy it but sometimes it is useful if you have a blitchy background.
Processing goals were to bring out the detail in the galaxy whilst keeping the stars nice and soft without creating harsh stars and reducing background noise whilst not softening the look of the image.
I tend not to use sharpening tools like unsharp mask or smart sharpen as they too often enhance noise and damage stars.
Greg.
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