Wow, thanks for the compliment Peter
I have no doubt Nick collected way better Ha and OIII data with an outstanding scope and integration time. His image is outstanding. Perhaps 5h of RGB at f/7 wasn’t enough though to get a deep background. I did over 10h of RGB at a 2x faster f/5.
Regarding resolution, I only selected my best subs with low HFR & Eccentricity. Stars are also tight due to short 90s subs (Nick’s were 300s).
Regarding processing, I apply continuum subtraction as described
here. I stretch the stars separately to the nebula with a hyperbolic & arcsin combo. I nuked hydrogen with noise reduction as there’s little detail to gain in the background gases, thus allowing me to add a lot of it without introducing much additional noise. Other than that, just the usual processes of curves work, sharpening, a bit of BlurX & noiseX, etc.
Hope that helps! Happy to go further & share more details upon request.