JWST Observes Frequent Flares Near Milky Way's Black Hole

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have observed frequent flares of light near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Observations throughout 2023 and 2024 reveal that these bursts occur daily, varying in duration from seconds to longer periods. The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, indicates that Sagittarius A* is constantly active, unlike other supermassive black holes. The flares originate from the accretion disk, a spinning disk of hot gas and dust just outside the event horizon. Researchers observed five to six large flares daily, along with smaller flashes. The changing activity is attributed to the unpredictable flow of material into the accretion disk, with short bursts potentially caused by turbulent shifts within the disk and larger flares possibly resulting from magnetic reconnection events. A previous study suggests that Sagittarius A* experienced massive flares in the past few hundred years, potentially due to consuming a planet.