Webb confirms water and silicate dust around dying star near Milky Way's black hole

At the turbulent heart of the Milky Way, where a four-million-solar-mass black hole dominates the landscape, a dying star called IRS 3 has been found cradling water molecules and oxygen-rich dust within its own extended atmosphere. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, reading the star's light as a physician reads a pulse, detected the unmistakable spectral signatures of these fragile materials just 0.55 light-years from Sagittarius A*. The discovery does not suggest life or comfort in that extreme place, but it does suggest that the universe's chemistry is more resilient than its harshest neighb