IRS 3 star sheds mass near Milky Way's supermassive black hole

New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed that the star IRS 3 is losing massive amounts of gas and dust despite its proximity to Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Located approximately 0.55 to 0.6 light-years from the black hole, IRS 3 is a highly evolved asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star with about 6 solar masses.

Research led by Florian Peißker of the University of Cologne indicates that the star has created an exceptionally large envelope extending roughly 10,000 astronomical units. Remarkably, astronomers detected water molecules and dust within this envelope, surviving the intense radiation and X-ray flaring characteristic of the galactic center. This finding demonstrates how AGB stars can enrich the interstellar medium with complex materials even in extreme, radiation-dominated environments.