Weird .nef file

[jjnic]

Tried out some moon shots over the weelend and i'm puzzled as to why the NEF and .jpg files turned out so differently 1. is the .jpg file and 2. is the same picture but as a .nef file. I haven't done anything to either except crop and converted the .nef to .jpg to upload it. now i know that the .nef file is the raw file and the .jpg is the somewhat modified version but i am confused because other moon shots taken at the same time with a shorter focal length so with more forground detail are virtually identical in the .nef and .jpg format. Is it the longer focal length that causes it? I'm sure i have taken shots of the moon before close up and had the .jpg and .nef files similar. Any other ideas?

jj