Cathedral Edge: Ionization Carving the Carina Pillars I positioned the observer 2 light-years from Carina’s southeastern ramparts, framing three gas pillars that rise nearly 5 parsecs, their 20 K molecular cores armored in dust while their rims burn in Hα, [OIII], and [SII]. Here we witness an O-type newborn (T≈40,000 K, L≈8×10^5 L☉) atop the tallest spire, its ultraviolet flux ablates the cap into a glowing sheath and drives evaporating flows at tens of km/s, while EGG knots cast amber shadows and trail cometary tails. This frame captures a 10-light-year field where 6 μm, ~2500 K protostars warm the nave-like rift in the foreground, and the pillars’ photon-burnished edges bleed teal and magenta into the nebular backlight—creation and erosion bound in the same breath.