() When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. An illustration of a black circle in space shooting a beam of light out of its center (Image credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser) Astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to take the longest look yet at our galaxy's supermassive black hole — and it's frothing with unusual activity. Situated 26,000 light-years away in the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A* is a gargantuan tear in space-time that is 4 million times the mass of the sun and 14.6 million miles (23.5 million kilometers) wide. Now, new observations from JWST have revealed a constant stream of flares erupting from the gas swirling around the black hole's mouth. The new findings, published Feb. 18 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, could help scientists better understand the chaotic nature of the cosmic monsters and how they sculpt their surroundings. "Flares are expected to happen in essentially all supermassive black holes, but our black hole is unique," lead author Farhad Yusef-Zadeh, an astronomer at Northwestern University, said in an emailed statement. "It is always bubbling with activity and never seems to reach a steady state. We observed the black hole multiple times throughout 2023 and 2024, and we noticed changes in every observation. We saw something different each time, which is really remarkable. Nothing ever stayed the same." Despite making up a scant 0.0003% of the Milky Way's mass, Sagittarius A* is a powerful engine that periodically sucks matter in before spitting it out at near light speed, creating a feedback process that has shaped our galaxy since its beginnings.