JWST Detects Water and Dust 0.55 Light-Years From Milky Way's Black Hole
Updated
Updated · ScienceAlert · Aug 17
JWST Detects Water and Dust 0.55 Light-Years From Milky Way's Black Hole
3 articles · Updated · ScienceAlert · Aug 17
Summary
JWST found water, silicate dust and other oxygen-rich material around IRS 3, a dying star just 0.55 light-years from Sagittarius A* at the Milky Way’s center.
MIRI observations and simulations show the asymptotic giant branch star is still shedding chemically rich outer layers despite intense radiation near the 4-million-solar-mass black hole.
IRS 3’s stellar winds eject matter at about 15 kilometers per second, building a dusty envelope roughly 10,000 AU wide and shell-like layers that may trace mass loss over 5,000 years.
The study suggests stars can keep enriching galactic centers with water and dust even in extreme black-hole environments, expanding where astronomers think complex molecular material can survive.