NGC 7822 in Cepheus . ... Credit Copyright: Manuel Fern ndez Suarez Explanation: Hot, young stars and cosmic pillars of gas and dust seem to crowd into NGC 7822. At the edge of a giant molecular cloud toward the northern constellation Cepheus , the glowing star forming region lies about 3,000 light-years away. ... The atomic emission is powered by energetic radiation from the hot stars, whose powerful winds and radiation also sculpt and erode the denser pillar shapes. ...