The first ever picture of a black hole predictably prompted hilarity on social media.
The image – obtained by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration – was captured using eight radio dishes around the world combined into one global telescope, and the result was this:
What does today's black hole image news mean? Our @ChandraXRay Observatory team puts it into perspective and shares just what a difficult feat it was for @NSF and @EHTelescope to obtain the new black hole image. Read more about #EHTBlackHole: https://t.co/s9xoxt8l3S pic.twitter.com/TQD8HSdbGG
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2019
Social media was fascinated by the image, but that didn’t stop many sharing some of their favourite jokes about the scientific breakthrough.
Some couldn’t help but see the Eye of Sauron, thanks to the glowing effect created by the Event Horizon.
One does not simply...take pictures of The Eye of Sauron and post them on Twitter. https://t.co/dgxPQThefS
— Del Rey Books (@DelReyBooks) April 10, 2019
Oh cool the eye of Sauron is out there in space, just staring at us. No biggie. https://t.co/bmdGgG99US
— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) April 10, 2019
Wait I've seen this before pic.twitter.com/6XDM0QZoss
— RussThaRealMVP (@dazdilly2323) April 10, 2019
Meanwhile the X-Men franchise got in on the fun as well, referencing their forthcoming release Dark Phoenix.
She’s getting closer. #EHTBlackHole #DarkPhoenix arrives June 7. pic.twitter.com/CURLC10ZTh
— X-Men Movies (@XMenMovies) April 10, 2019
One Twitter user even saw the Firefox logo within the light-sucking mass.
They've found our origins, @Firefox. #EHTBlackHole pic.twitter.com/3k0IqjNXsZ
— mart3ll+ (@mart3ll) April 10, 2019
The danger posed by a black hole was not lost on some; @TheTweetOfGod reminding everyone of the possibility of being sucked inside.
If you think the picture of the black hole is cool, wait till next week, when you get to photograph it from the inside.
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) April 10, 2019
Meanwhile others wondered how the human race had achieved such a feat before the UK had achieved Brexit.
Hands up who thought we’d know what a black hole looked like before we found out what Brexit looked like?
— Ben Stanley (@BDStanley) April 10, 2019
In an age of selfies and photo-sharing websites, the blurry nature of the black hole was brought into question.
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And The Museum of English Rural Life seemed to prove that there could be something for everyone lurking in the centre of the darkness.
whew pic.twitter.com/COvUkQyA0f
— The Museum of English Rural Life (@TheMERL) April 10, 2019