ah,
may I chime in?
needle point stars
the pink nebula glow could come out more - and the "exploding" pixels could be less obvious.
I
think, both might be due to too much highlight effect in the post processing.
and more darks and of course flats will greatly enhance the quality and make post processing easier, too.
I like your step-by-step-improvement approach and posting it here on IIS.
I benefit from your threads, too!