--- title: Black Hole Photo Memes Are Out of This World description: Scientists released the first ever picture of a black hole, and the Internet got to work making memes and jokes. canonical: https://time.com/5567498/black-hole-memes/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-10T16:08:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:58:36.001Z og:title: The Eye of Sauron? A Blurry Bagel? The Black Hole Memes Are Out of This World og:description: Scientists released the first ever picture of a black hole, and the Internet got to work og:url: https://time.com/5567498/black-hole-memes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79db781fea26659e/6989480309208f01904139f0/black-hole-photo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Black Hole Photo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Eye of Sauron? A Blurry Bagel? The Black Hole Memes Are Out of This World twitter:description: Scientists released the first ever picture of a black hole, and the Internet got to work twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79db781fea26659e/6989480309208f01904139f0/black-hole-photo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 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) ```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? 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