On Wednesday April 10, the world collectively gawped in awe at the first-ever image of a black hole. The photo shows the Messier 87 galaxy (M87), with the black hole lurking at its centre. It is some 500 billion, billion kilometres away from Earth, with a mass over 6 billion times that of the sun.
Within hours, the internet had reacted and turned one of the most significant breakthroughs in modern science into meme fodder. Here, we round up some of the best:
Lord of the Rings fans feel like they have seen it somewhere before...
The Eye of Sauron is apparently now hiding in the middle of space waiting patiently for his return. https://t.co/8AgLpWygPC
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) April 10, 2019
NSF: Amazing first photo of black hole! This changes everything!
— Dr. Sarah Parcak (@indyfromspace) April 10, 2019
Sauron: Mother? pic.twitter.com/4ML5ytcZuX
#EHTBlackHole that's no black hole, they found Sauron. Middle Earth here we come pic.twitter.com/Hqqn9apg75
— NoleMan 🪓🎬🥃 (@NoleMan22) April 10, 2019
Sauron is dat you #lotr #BlackHole pic.twitter.com/bxO5el1Rad
— Joel Ferguson (@Deadandgone70) April 10, 2019
For others, it resembled their favourite breakfast food...
*sees first ever picture a black hole*
— Blazing Bagels (@BlazingBagels) April 10, 2019
our brain:
don’t say it
don’t say it
don’t say it
don’t say it
don’t say it
don’t say it
don’t say it
don’t say it
us: that kind of looks like a bagel honestly pic.twitter.com/eIeVZ1MIeP
idk why but i really want some toasted bagel rn #BlackHole pic.twitter.com/DUZh0RIE4Q
— 🌸 Mae Ⓥ (@pistachio_mae) April 11, 2019
This photo of the black hole is awesome, but wait... Enhance! Hmm, enhance! One more time, enhance! Whoa. The biggest Cinnamon Raisin Bagel in the world, and it's still hot! #EHT #EventHorizonTelescope pic.twitter.com/aPDVtLHF2u
— Gábor Héja (@gheja_) April 10, 2019
In fact, it seemed to make Twitter hungry in general...
I am sure the spatial resolution of the #blackhole images will get better in future. pic.twitter.com/uN9lmN9fGe
— Fakhar Khalid (@FakharKhalid) April 10, 2019
wait... zoom out pic.twitter.com/D9gXZtjqY7
— Matt Buechele (@mattbooshell) April 10, 2019
So how does black hole feel after knowing that first ever effective use of black hole after it's discovery is as meme material ?#blackhole pic.twitter.com/GkhuGvZ39T
— वैभव (@VaibhavSolanke) April 10, 2019
And then there are the memes that are just a little rude...
Black hole memes 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/jz3D2esRHt
— Sara. (@BauhatSara) April 10, 2019
My first meme 😀
— DNA&RNA Universe💎 (@DNA_RNA_Uni) April 10, 2019
... quite disappointed by long-awaited first-ever image of black hole 🤔#BlackHole #meme #expectation #reality pic.twitter.com/enIk8W2S0L
Breaking News: Astronomers captured the first-ever images of a black hole, peering inside the deepest, darkest abysses in the cosmos. pic.twitter.com/OaISLgqbYj
— Julien Devereux (@jndevereux) April 10, 2019
People were also defending the scientific feat...
Omg y’all stop these horrible memes about the black hole!
— Kristy Loye Key (@MsLoyeEngIV) April 11, 2019
LEAVE THE BLACK HOLE ALONE! pic.twitter.com/gJ6PdwvZ72
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Event Horizon telescope: First ever image of a black hole revealed
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