Scientists and sci-fi fanatics have imagined for decades what a real black hole might look like: Is it an awe-inspiring mass of swirling particles? Or is it a sinister, hellish void?
For many social media users, the first-ever image of a black hole released Wednesday actually looked like a blurry doughnut.
鈥淟ooks like an out-of-focus @krispykreme,鈥� wrote one .
To some others, the hazy orange ring recalled the 鈥淓ye of Sauron,鈥� a fiery symbol of the omnipotent villain in J.R.R. Tolkien鈥檚 鈥淭he Lord of the Rings鈥� trilogy. The New York Times seemed to prefer this link, writing that the comparison was 鈥渁 reminder yet again of the power and . It is a smoke ring framing a one-way portal to eternity.鈥�
Officially, the scientists with the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration described the image as simply a 鈥�.鈥� In fact, the photo depicts a ring of light bending from the 鈥渋ntense gravity around a black hole.鈥�
Various media outlets have described the black hole as a 鈥�,鈥� a 鈥溾�� and a 鈥� of gas and dust.鈥� But it has also been described in far more unscientific ways since its release.
Blurred visions
Many observers were distracted by the apparent blurriness of the image, which was actually stitched together based on data from eight telescopes and coloured orange by scientists 鈥渂ecause the light is so hot.鈥� But that wasn鈥檛 HD enough for some.
Technology website CNET likened the black hole image to an 鈥�.鈥�
鈥淗uh, who would have guessed a black hole looks like I'm squinting at an ?鈥� wrote one Twitter user. 鈥淟ooks like it was taken from an ,鈥� joked a man. 鈥淭his black hole looks like a blurred image of a heated ,鈥� reacted another user.
Food and more food
Social media users had more than doughnuts on the brain when looking at the photo. that the image reminded them of SpaghettiOs, the brand of canned circular pasta. The orangey ring looked like the Werther鈥檚 Original caramel to at least one other user.
Incomplete design
鈥淭he black hole looks like an for The Sixth Sense,鈥� wrote one user, referring to the 1999 supernatural horror film.
Animal eyes
Less menacing than the Eye of Sauron, others have compared the black hole to the , or a goldfish.
