{
  "id": 1247839,
  "title": "Astronomers find water in the harsh environment near the Milky Way's black hole — Space photo of the week",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/16/astronomers-find-water-in-the-harsh-environment-near-the-milky-ways",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-16T10:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Live Science",
    "slug": "live-science",
    "url": "https://www.livescience.com/space/black-holes/astronomers-find-water-in-the-harsh-environment-near-the-milky-ways-black-hole-space-photo-of-the-week"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Astronomers have discovered water in the extreme environment near the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, challenging assumptions about the conditions necessary for this process. The research, published on August 11 in Astronomy & Astrophysics, reveals that aging stars like IRS 3, located about 26,000 light-years from Earth, can still generate dust in their surrounding envelopes. The detection of water is particularly significant because it demonstrates that molecular material can survive in an environment dominated by intense radiation near a black hole. This finding, made using the James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera and Mid-infrared Instrument, shows that IRS 3 sheds an immense amount of material, creating a sprawling envelope around itself. The team combined spectral data with models to map the structure of the star's envelope and found traces of oxygen-rich dust, confirming the presence of water. The star IRS 3, belonging to the asymptotic giant branch phase, has a mass about six times that of the Sun and is approximately 0.55 light-years away from the Milky Way's central black hole, Sagittarius A*.",
  "summary": "Astronomers detected dust and water surprisingly close to the Milky Way's central black hole, Sagittarius A*, offering a rare direct view of how evolved stars may behave in hostile settings.",
  "key_points": [
    "Astronomers find water near Milky Way's supermassive black hole.",
    "IRS 3, a star 26,000 light-years away, generates dust in harsh environment.",
    "James Webb Telescope confirms water presence in intense radiation zone."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}