James Webb Space Telescope finds most infrared light near Circinus black hole.

Webb observations of the Circinus Galaxy show about 87% of infrared emission from hot dust originates near the supermassive black hole rather than from dusty outflows, researchers report.

The James Webb Space Telescope observed the supermassive black hole in the Circinus Galaxy, about 13 million light-years away. New high-resolution infrared data captured in July 2024 and March 2025 are reported in the Jan. 13 issue of Nature Communications. Those measurements allowed researchers to locate the primary source of excess infrared light around the black hole. The results run counter to earlier ideas that outflowing material produced most of that infrared emission. Key findings: - About 87% of the infrared emission from hot dust is reported to come from the regions closest to the black hole. - Less than 1% of the measured infrared light appears to come from hot dusty outflows. - The dominant emission is attributed to heated dust on the inner surface of the donut-shaped torus or funnel feeding the black hole. - Observations used Webb's NIRISS instrument with an Aperture Masking Interferometer, which provides higher-contrast and higher-resolution infrared imaging. - This study marks the first use of a high-contrast Webb mode on an extragalactic source and is presented as a test case for models of active galaxies. Summary: The study indicates a compact, dusty structure near the Circinus black hole is the primary source of the observed infrared emission, refining models of how material near active supermassive black holes produces infrared light. Researchers note that active galaxies are diverse and that Webb's high-contrast capabilities will allow observations of a larger sample to determine how widely this result applies.