NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured the longest and most detailed look ever of Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The telescope observed the area surrounding the black hole over 48 hours, revealing “ongoing fireworks of various brightness and durations.” The observations showed that Sagittarius A* emits flares of varying intensity, with average five to six “big flares” per day.
Astrophysicists used the near-infrared camera (NIRCam) on the JWST to observe the black hole in eight to 10-hour increments across one year. The data revealed a unique behavior, where the supermassive black hole constantly changes and never reaches a steady state. Researchers suspect two separate processes drive the regular faint flares and longer, brighter ones.
The observations also showed a time delay between events at different wavelengths, which could provide key insights into the physical processes occurring around the black hole. The team hopes to use Webb to view Sagittarius A* for even longer periods, possibly up to 24 straight hours, to reduce noise and reveal more features of the flares.
The new observations will help scientists better understand the nature of black holes, their interaction with surrounding matter, and how they may have shaped the Milky Way galaxy. The findings are published in a recent study, which provides evidence for distinct populations of faint and bright variable emission from Sagittarius A*.
Source: https://petapixel.com/2025/02/21/webb-captures-cosmic-fireworks-in-unprecedented-timelapse-of-a-supermassive-black-hole