  Recent modeling of NICER observations of thermal X-ray pulsations from the
surface of the isolated millisecond pulsar PSR J0030+0451 suggests that the hot
emitting regions on the pulsar's surface are far from antipodal, which is at
odds with the classical assumption that the magnetic field in the pulsar
magnetosphere is predominantly that of a centered dipole. Here, we review these
results and examine previous attempts to constrain the magnetospheric
configuration of PSR J0030+0451. To the best of our knowledge, there is in fact
no direct observational evidence that PSR J0030+0451's magnetic field is a
centered dipole. Developing models of physically motivated, non-canonical
magnetic field configurations and the currents that they can support poses a
challenging task. However, such models may have profound implications for many
aspects of pulsar research, including pulsar braking, estimates of birth
velocities, and interpretations of multi-wavelength magnetospheric emission.
