Scientists released the much-awaited first direct image of a massive black hole at the centre of Messier 87, a galaxy which is about 54 million light-years away, at the National Press Club here on Wednesday.

You're looking at the first ever image of a black hole. It was captured by the #NSFFunded @ehtelescope project. #ehtblackhole #RealBlackHole https://t.co/6dglvqrvOs pic.twitter.com/0hclANf4tc

— National Science Foundation (@NSF) April 10, 2019

The image has been taken by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which is a network of 10 radio telescopes spread across the planet, according to The Washington Post. The telescope functioned as if it is a single receiver, tuned to high-frequency radio waves, to take the image.