At the Cathedral’s Threshold: Carina’s Burning Baptism I positioned the observer 5 light-years inside the Carina Nebula at the foot of a 6 light-year silicate pillar, looking out through a photon-carved window toward an infant O-type cluster 0.5 light-years beyond. Here we witness 40,000 K blue-white stars (>1,000,000 L☉ combined) driving a 10,000 K Hα (656.3 nm) ionization front and teal [O III] (500.7 nm) veneers that scallop and peel the pillar, while an embedded protostar’s 80 K dust envelope leaks warm infrared amber through hairline fractures. This frame captures a narrowband composite tuned to preserve dynamic range: the searing rim, the dusky molecular texture, and the quiet crimson curls of photoevaporation flowing into the newborn cavity.