Not really sure about the glow issue Steve (the darker the skies the longer you can expose for). What really strikes me about that first image in particular is that you mention you drift aligned so I am assuming you were using a tracking mount but the star trailing is of a length that I would expect from a fixed tripod and that camera/lens combo. Are you sure you were actually tracking? Even a very basic plonk down the mount facing south should give you nice round stars at that focal length and 1 minute exposure time as long as the mount is tracking.
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