NGC 7822 in Cepheus . ... Credit Copyright: Neil Fleming Explanation: Pillars of gas, dust, and young, hot stars seem to fill the gaping maw of 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. ... Stars could still be forming inside the pillars by gravitational collapse , but as the pillars are eroded away, any forming stars will ultimately be cutoff from their reservoir of star stuff . ...