New observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed what it's really like nearby Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.
What is it?
In this image captured in mid-infrared with JWST, researchers have captured an incredible, detailed look at the star IRS 3 nearby Sag A*. The star, which is only 0.55 light-years from Sag A*, is nearing the end of its life and as such, it is puffing out and getting cooler and shedding gas out into space. (For comparison, Earth is about 26,000 light-years away from the black hole Sag A*).
JWST looked at the star with its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). With this infrared data, researchers were able to spot oxygen-rich dust and water in the envelope of gas and dust surrounding the star. This is the first time that water has been detected there.
Why is it incredible?
These observations show that the star IRS 3 is still able to hold onto oxygen-rich dust and water in its envelope, despite being near a supermassive black hole and its intense gravity.
"Galactic centres are among the most extreme environments, so understanding whether stars can continue enriching their surroundings there is an important question," lead author Florian Peißker of the University of Cologne in Germany, said in a statement. "With Webb, we can directly observe how stars behave under these conditions and see that dust production remains remarkably resilient."
With these observations, researchers can continue to explore the strange environments around supermassive black holes and how they might (surprisingly) affect nearby stars like IRS 3.
The finding of water in these observations was especially surprising and could yield interesting future exploration.
"The detection of water is especially exciting because it shows that molecular material can survive in an environment dominated by intense radiation," co-author Garcia Marin of the European Space Agency, who also serves as Principle Investigator of ESA's Mid-Infrared Characterisation of Nearby Iconic galaxy Centres (MICONIC) program, said in the same statement. "This tells us that even close to a supermassive black hole, stars can continue contributing material back into their surroundings."
