The supermassive black hole in the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy, Sagittarius A*, constantly emits flares like fireworks.
Observation from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) showed that the black hole’s accretion disk—consisting of the gases and materials orbiting it—is constantly shooting off flares. They occur at random around the black hole and can be minimal or intense bursts. Variations of the flashes have been observed over three months, and scientists say that the results of these findings could greatly contribute to our understanding of the mysterious objects.
The Milky Way black hole flares
Webb’s got new insight on Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. The swirling disk of gas and dust surrounding it is more active than expected, emitting a constant but random stream of flares, from faint flickers to bright eruptions.… pic.twitter.com/Ren4faNlii
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) February 18, 2025
The study subsequently resulting from the observations of Sagittarius A* was published in the journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The lead author of the study, Farhad Yusef-Zadeh of Northwestern University in Illinois, spoke about the experience of witnessing the flares and the strangeness of the occurrence.
“We saw a constantly changing, bubbling glow, and then suddenly—boom! A massive flare appeared out of nowhere,” said Yusef-Zadeh. “Then everything would calm down again. We couldn’t identify a defined pattern; each observation revealed a different and surprising activity.”
The research team used the JWST’s infrared cameras to observe the activity in the accretion disk of the Milky Way’s black hole. They used 48 hours of footage, split into several parts over one year, which allowed them to observe the flashes over time.
They still do not understand what makes Sagittarius A* shoot sparks at all times, but Yusef-Zadeh suspects that there are two possibilities. He suggests that the smaller flares are a cause of a disturbance in the accretion disk, creating an abnormal fluctuation. The larger and more intense flare-ups could be caused by large amounts of energy bursting, similar to solar flares.
“It’s a process analogous to how the Sun’s magnetic field accumulates, compresses, and then releases energy in the form of a solar flare,” said Yusef-Zadeh.
Another possibility is that the big flares are caused by the collision of magnetic fields. Such an occurrence would release a massive amount of particles and energy, creating a noticeable burst when observing Sagittarius A*’s accretion disk.
“We can compare it to a spark of static electricity, which is also a form of electrical reconnection,” said Yusef-Zadeh.
With the publication of their recent findings, Yusef-Zadeh and the team hope to conduct more studies observing the Milky Way’s black hole. In doing so, they hope to learn more about the accretion disk and why it is constantly shooting out flares.
“When it comes to such weak flare events, noise can be a problem,” said Yusef-Zadeh. “If we manage to observe for a continuous 24-hour period, we could significantly reduce that noise and detect patterns that have remained hidden until now. It would be fascinating to discover whether these flares repeat in a cycle or if, on the contrary, they are completely random.”
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