Thanks all for the thoughts on this. It is interesting to learn about the atmospheric distortion. I’ll have to try it again later at night, and also try the tip on taking it the night before the full moon just before the sunset. @buddingphotographer, have you had much success with blending two images (with two exposures) together? If so, how did you actually do it in photoshop, so it looks natural?
Different note, but has anyone here tried star photography and had any good pictures turn out? I find it fascinating.