Webb Finds Dust and Water Near the Milky Way’s Central Black Hole

The James Webb Space Telescope has detected oxygen-rich dust and water-related molecular material around an aging star located about 0.55 light-years—in projection—from Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

The result, announced by ESA/Webb on August 11, 2026, shows that the evolved star IRS 3 is still shedding chemically complex material despite the intense radiation around the galactic center. The finding matters because it indicates that stars in one of the galaxy’s harshest environments can continue returning dust and molecules to surrounding space.

What Webb observed

An international research team used Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI, to observe IRS 3 in 2025 through the Mid-Infrared Characterisation of Nearby Iconic galaxy Centres, or MICONIC, observing program. The study was submitted to arXiv on August 10, 2026 and published in Astronomy & Astrophysics on August 11.

The observations produced the first continuous mid-infrared spectrum collected for IRS 3. The spectrum revealed two strong infrared features associated with oxygen-rich silicate dust. Earlier work had suggested the star might be carbon-rich, but the Webb data support a different chemical classification.

IRS 3 is an asymptotic giant branch star, a late stage in stellar evolution when a star has expanded, cooled and begun losing material through powerful stellar winds. From stellar modeling, the researchers estimate that IRS 3 has a mass of about six Suns and an age of roughly 72 million years.

Evidence of water—not liquid water

The team also reported the first clear detection of water in the envelope surrounding IRS 3. In this context, the finding means water-related molecular material was identified through the star’s infrared spectrum. It does not indicate a reservoir of liquid water.

The result is notable because the region around Sagittarius A* is crowded with stars and exposed to intense radiation. Scientists had been uncertain how effectively an evolved star could form and preserve dust and molecules so close to the black hole.

The observation also does not show that dust or water survives everywhere near a black hole. It concerns the specific, extended envelope produced by IRS 3 and the conditions revealed in that object’s spectrum.

What the models indicate

By comparing the spectrum with simulations of how light moves through different envelope structures, the researchers modeled IRS 3’s surrounding material as a layered, shell-like distribution of dust. The modeled envelope extends roughly 10,000 astronomical units from the star, with estimated temperatures falling from about 1,200 kelvin near IRS 3 to around 100 kelvin in its outer regions.

Those values are model-based estimates rather than direct measurements of every part of the envelope. They help explain how dust and molecular material can remain present while IRS 3 continues losing mass.

Why the finding matters

Evolved stars are important sources of cosmic dust. That dust can later become part of the material from which new stars and planets form. The Webb observations therefore support a broader picture of galactic recycling: even stars near a supermassive black hole may continue supplying chemically important material to their surroundings.

That is an interpretation about stellar evolution and the movement of material through galaxies, not a direct observation of future planet formation. It is also not evidence of extraterrestrial life, a habitable zone or habitable conditions.

Further observations and modeling will be needed to determine whether IRS 3 is unusual or whether resilient dust production is more common among evolved stars in galactic centers.

Sources

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