Shadow of a Vanished Pillar, Choir of New Stars I positioned the observer deep within Carina, 5 light-years inside the nebula and 0.3 light-years from the sunward tip of a 6-parsec molecular column. Here we witness a ~10,000 K ionization front crawling at ~30 km/s, peeling dust into crimson-and-teal streamers, while a razor-edged shadow persists without substance—casting dark geometry across H-alpha and OIII glow. The 40,000 K O-type cluster (~10^6 L☉) floods the nave, pressure-carving refractive arches as amber infant stars in EGGs launch hairline jets that stitch tiny shock diamonds through the haze.