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The black spot in this image is larger in diameter than our solar system. It weighs more than our galaxy. Its halo is matter literally being ripped apart and accelerated to near light speed as it disappears, forever, into a gravitational prison from which there is no escape. 
The image exists because hundreds of awesome nerds figured out a way to combine machines located all over the earth onto one big telescope, whose lens was effectively the size of a planet, powerful enough to see into the heart of a distant galaxy, exposing the enormous black hole
This accomplishment floors me with the incredible beauty, and the terrifying scale and ferocity of our universe. It reminds me that we are incredibly special, and small, and that we need to take care of each other. Beciase the universe doesn’t give a fuck and wants to kill us.
Also I can’t spell “because.”
EVERYONE: I tweeted this yesterday half asleep, irritated that the media were botching the awesomeness of the image. I meant to compare M87s mass to the milky ways’s mass but instead after editing I said the wrong thing. I’m humiliated and of course the thing goes viral.
So, if you’re reading this, the mass of that black hole is in fact comparable to some smaller galaxies, but it sure isn’t greater than the mass of our galaxy. That said, please don’t let my fuckup damage your appreciation of this awesome achievement.
