James Webb Space Telescope discovers dust and water surviving near Milky Way's supermassive black hole

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers has found that dust and water can form and persist surprisingly close to Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. This discovery, focusing on the evolved star IRS 3, challenges previous assumptions about the harsh conditions near galactic centers and suggests that such environments can still contribute to the enrichment of material necessary for future star and planet formation.