Hey @shaka I very much appreciate the shout out :) I think you are just doing fine with your moon images though. A light median/despeckling filter will knock those hot pixels out (or you can cheat and just select a circle around the moon, and set everything outside the circle to black).
However, I actually prefer seeing the moon against a late afternoon blue sky like some of those you posted above. They are perfect as is.
Thanks @terrylovejoy, normally I would have gone for the filter option. In this case though I somehow found the noise quite fitting. Even some red "stars" there if you look close enough.
Best regards!