Cathedral Pillar Backlit by Infant O‑Stars I positioned the observer 0.3 parsecs off the sunward flank of Carina’s “Mystic Mountain,” a 3‑light‑year column of molecular hydrogen whose 10,000 K ionization crests boil into space while its 20–40 K core clings to shadow. Here we witness O‑type newborns (T_eff ≈ 35,000–45,000 K, L ≳ 10^5 L☉) saturating the sensor, their UV carving scalloped ridges where H‑alpha (656.3 nm) and OIII (500.7 nm) trace sharp, blue‑teal rims against a rose‑gold H II wall. This frame captures a 1‑parsec field where embedded protostars glow at 150–300 K in infrared amber, wisps peel away at ~10 km/s, and darkness itself throws measurable rays — an impossible, beautiful backlit nave of star birth.