Do the wave 🧲 The wavy lines superimposed on this image represent the magnetic fields swirling within 30 Doradus, a star-forming region also known as the Tarantula Nebula. In most of the nebula's core, these magnetic fields are incredibly strong, helping to hold its structure intact—but in some spots, the field is weak enough for gas to escape and create new stars. These magnetic fields were studied by SOFIA, an airborne telescope operated by NASA and the germanaerospacecenter. The image of the Tarantula Nebula beneath was taken by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope and the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy. Credit: ESO, M.-R. Cioni/VISTA Magellanic Cloud survey (background); NASA/SOFIA (streamlines) Image description: Thin, reddish-purple, pasta-like lines create strings, loops, and whorls on top of a massive field of stars. The image underneath these lines features a giant clump of blue-and-white stars near the center, with countless, smal...