--- ---  # The Eye of Sauron? A Blurry Bagel? The Internet's Black Hole Memes Are Out of This World by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 10, 2019 4:08 PM UTC  The image reveals the black hole at the center of Messier 87, a massive galaxy in the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster. This black hole resides 55 million light-years from Earth and has a mass 6.5-billion times that of the Sun. The image reveals the black hole at the center of Messier 87, a massive galaxy in the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster. This black hole resides 55 million light-years from Earth and has a mass 6.5-billion times that of the Sun.National Science Foundation by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 10, 2019 4:08 PM UTC The [first picture of a black hole](http://time.com/5566225/first-black-hole-picture-photo/) was released Wednesday, marking a giant feat for science — and, because this is the internet, paving the way for a slew of memes. The photo — a blurry shot that shows a black hole at the center of the Messier 87 galaxy — quickly became meme fodder as people drew comparisons between the fiery orange circle and other famous round objects. The Eye of Sauron, the flaming eye featured in _The_ _Lord of the Rings,_ immediately jumped to mind for many: > [](https://twitter.com/indyfromspace/status/1115967914723676162) > [](https://twitter.com/KickAssTakeNaps/status/1115984226707484673) > [](https://twitter.com/joshgad/status/1115979466432491525) > [](https://twitter.com/Martinhorne/status/1115987168911155201) > [](https://twitter.com/nwquah/status/1115965982529523712) For some, the black hole picture served as a reminder to eat breakfast: > [](https://twitter.com/melvillmatic/status/1115971129385074688) > [](https://twitter.com/gheja%5F/status/1115980173663449088) > [](https://twitter.com/mekosoff/status/1115967225691877377) > [](https://twitter.com/CarrieRickey/status/1115998185779015680) > [](https://twitter.com/FakharKhalid/status/1115972459000487937) Bagels and a famed eye from _The_ _Lord of the Rings_ are logical comparisons to a fuzzy picture of a black hole. But things soon took a turn for the wild: > [](https://twitter.com/Fred%5FDelicious/status/1115997333496451073) > [](https://twitter.com/mattbooshell/status/1115972723036053504) > [](https://twitter.com/ashleymayer/status/1115975466773569536) Black Hole Photo Memes Are Out of This World ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5567498/black-hole-memes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5567498/black-hole-memes/"},"headline":"The Eye of Sauron? A Blurry Bagel? The Internet's Black Hole Memes Are Out of This World","datePublished":"2019-04-10T16:08:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:58:36.001Z","description":"Scientists released the first ever picture of a black hole, and the Internet got to work","url":"https://time.com/5567498/black-hole-memes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Space","Internet","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79db781fea26659e/6989480309208f01904139f0/black-hole-photo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79db781fea26659e/6989480309208f01904139f0/black-hole-photo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Black Hole Photo","caption":"Black Hole Photo","creditText":"National Science Foundation","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5567498/black-hole-memes/","name":"The Eye of Sauron? A Blurry Bagel? The Internet's Black Hole Memes Are Out of This World"}}]}] ```