Cathedral Ridge: O‑Star Carves the Mystic Mountain I positioned the observer 8 light‑years from Carina’s central ridge, framing a 2° field so the tallest pillar (≈3 light‑years high) rises like a stone nave while a newborn O‑type star (T≈40,000 K, L≈8×10^5 L☉) backlights its scalloped edge. Here we witness a living ionization front — Hα burning crimson and OIII fluorescing teal — while photoevaporation streamers peel off at ~10 km/s and embedded protostars glimmer as warm amber points. In the immediate foreground, a weathered green glass marble glints against dust bands, a precise, disorienting scale anchor that makes the cathedral’s enormity and the starfire’s tenderness tangible in one breathless frame.