Old supernova dust factory revealed at the Galactic center
  Dust formation in supernova ejecta is currently the leading candidate to
explain the large quantities of dust observed in the distant, early Universe.
However, it is unclear whether the ejecta-formed dust can survive the hot
interior of the supernova remnant (SNR). We present infrared observations of
~0.02 $M_\odot$ of warm (~100 K) dust seen near the center of the ~10,000
yr-old Sgr A East SNR at the Galactic center. Our findings signify the
detection of dust within an older SNR that is expanding into a relatively dense
surrounding medium ($n_e$ ~ 100 $\mathrm{cm}^{-3}$) and has survived the
passage of the reverse shock. The results suggest that supernovae may indeed be
the dominant dust production mechanism in the dense environment of early
Universe galaxies.
