First-Ever Image of Milky Way’s Black Hole Looks A Lot Like Your Soul

Fun fact: There’s a “supermassive” black hole at the center of the Milky Way. It’s 4 million times bigger than the sun. Even more amazing? Scientists were able to snap a pic of it. It’s not exactly Instagram-worthy, as it’s a little fuzzy and nebulous, but with a little practice, we’re sure that black hole could build a following with selfies alone.

“Astronomers believe nearly all galaxies, including our own, have these giant black holes at their center, where light and matter cannot escape, making it extremely hard to get images of them,” Today explained. “Light gets chaotically bent and twisted around by gravity as it gets sucked into the abyss along with superheated gas and dust.”

Superheated gas? That sounds like something we’re familiar with.

But we digress.

The image was captured by an international consortium (whatever the hell that is) called Event Horizon Telescope. It boasts eight synchronized radio telescopes around the globe. The image was announced by Feryal Ozel of The University of Arizona. She called the black hole “the gentle giant in the center of our galaxy.”

Or the giant asshole. You decide.

The Milky Way black hole has actually earned a name – and it’s a pretty badass one if you’re into astrology (which no self-respecting dude is, right?). It’s known as Sagittarius A* because of its location close to the border of the Sagittarius constellation and the Scorpius constellation.

The reason this is a big deal is because black holes are technically invisible, so the image is the first visual evidence that it actually exists. But his vanity pic didn’t come cheap. It cost a whopping $60 million, with $28 million of that coming directly from the U.S. National Science Foundation. (Your tax dollars at work?)

While there isn’t much to see in the black hole’s hard-earned first portrait, it sure does resemble our dark and angsty souls.

Cover Photo: AFP (Getty Images)