Glioblastoma also shows different subtypes that vary in their metabolism, which can be imaged to predict their response to treatment.

Researchers have thought that the two proteins interact, but no one had directly imaged them until this year, says Kravčenko.

"I am very excited we successfully imaged quantum scars in a real quantum system," said first and co-corresponding author Zhehao Ge, a UC Santa Cruz graduate student at the time of this study's completion.

Griswold, however, says she also documented pearls in live neurons imaged with a technique that doesn’t require either freezing or chemical fixatives.

The newly imaged star, WOH G64, lies within the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the small galaxies that orbits the Milky Way.