It has been described as seeing the unseeable and considered a significant milestone in human understanding of the universe.
But the first-ever image of a black hole is also – as noted by rather a lot of social media users – slightly underwhelming. Within moments of it being released, Twitter was flooded with jokes.
The resemblance to the potent symbol of evil in Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was not lost on some.
Lots of people thought it looked more like food than a space phenomenon.
And, given the timing, there was an inevitable round of Brexit related quips
They Brexit jokes weren’t universally popular, however.
And Brexit wasn’t the only source of political jokes spurred by the black hole image.
The blurry image looked a little familiar to some early 2000’s gamers.
There was nostalgia for 1979 Disney movie the Black Hole, with the image used in a homage to the cheesy sci-fi film’s original poster.
Some saw a media influence that went back further in time.
There was also a suggestion the gravity of the black hole played a part in dragging the stratospheric early 90s’ success of R.E.M. to the ground with the lacklustre Monster album.
The telescope array used to photograph the black hole was so powerful that it could spot a drawing pin in New York from London, but it wasn’t as powerful as this Twitter user’s:
Some wondered if the black hole itself might be unimpressed with the quality of the image that earth scientists had been able to capture by combining data from eight of the world’s leading radio observatories.
The image also made an unflattering comparison to the artist impressions of black holes we’ve grown used to over the years – almost like when you’ve spent too long editing a picture to make it shine on social media.
Scientists say that at the event horizon, light is bent in a perfect loop, meaning that if you stood there you would be able to see the back of your own head. Which is a little bit how it feels being on social media sometimes.
All the humour though shouldn’t obscure what a big deal the image is for scientists working in the field – a visual validation of Einstein’s theories.