Color, contrast enhancement, denoise.

This photo is from the last session for me of imaging the Milky Way until next year around March or April. The galactic core is setting, the Rho Ophiuchi complex has already dipped below the horizon and it's only 9PM. The Pipe Nebula had already set, too. The Lagoon Nebula is very visible just above right of the Sagittarius Star Cluster ( the large bright yellow area) as well as the Trifid nebula just above and right of the Lagoon nebula.

The horizon is quite blurry due to the long exposure while the star tracker was doing its job. I think this one was 3 minutes long with the 50 mm lens at f/4.5 aperture. The dust trails in the Milky Way are fairly prominent, however the desert dust pollution was in charge this evening. I was only a mile away from an off road vehicle recreation site and the entire valley was enveloped with a very thick, dust blanket which created the deep oranges and reds where stars were shining near the horizon.
I was shooting in a Bortle Class 3 location which is the darkest night sky within an hour's drive. A little over two hour's drive would have gotten me into Class 1 skies however the moon was rising at 9:50 PM...only half an hour after this shot was taken. So I did my best with the small window of time allotted me this session.