Advice on shooting starry skies close to a light source

[Virtualcolm]

I'm looking for a bit of advice, or perhaps just a few suggestions .
I was trying to create a starry backdrop behind a local landmark, but as it's always lit I got a green halo around the top of the tower.
Any suggestions on how I might counteract this without losing the stars?
Is it just a matter of cloning out the offending colour, or is there a better way of shooting the scene.

The pillar of light by Colm, on Flickr

 

[huffy]

The lighting does not spoil the picture for me but if you wanted to remove it would the methods used to remove chromic aberration work?

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-fix-chromic-aberration-in-photoshop/

 

[Virtualcolm]

I tried that, thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[bruno106a]

alter the exposure? so the lights in the building are not as bright

 

[Virtualcolm]

Thanks Andy, but it was the starry sky I was really after. I think a photoshop composite is the solution, one shot exposed for the tower and the other for the night sky.

 

[AndWhyNot]

Selectively desat the green? You'd expect some glow from the lights, it's just the colour that's marginally distracting.

 

[Utred]

surely the green halo effect adds to the sense of light "pollution"?
combining 2 exposures will be the best solution, and give you greater control over the look of the pic (although you may risk it looking a little unreal, if you don't get quite it right)