James Webb Telescope Reveals Unusual Flares at Milky Way Black Hole

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), positioned at the second Lagrange point (L2) about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, offers an unobstructed view of the universe and can detect objects 100 times fainter than the Hubble Space Telescope. Scientists at Northwestern University used JWST to observe Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, revealing unusual flares of light likely originating from an accretion disk near the event horizon, a phenomenon that is still under investigation. Meanwhile, high-resolution imaging projects like the Virtual Telescope Project and astrophotographer Greg Meyer have captured detailed views of nearby galaxies Messier 82 (the Cigar Galaxy) and Messier 81 (Bode's Galaxy), which are interacting gravitationally, triggering bursts of star formation and creating striking cosmic vistas. These observations, ranging from black hole activity to starburst galaxies, underscore the advancing capabilities of modern astronomical instruments and the ongoing quest to better understand our cosmic neighborhood.