Astronomers have published the first view of a black hole, an observation that takes science a step closer to understanding the origins of the gigantic celestial objects at the centre of galaxies.

The image of a hole at the heart of the M87 galaxy — 6bn times bigger than the sun and 53m light years away — was released on Wednesday at simultaneous press conferences around the world. It was compiled over two years using data drawn from a global network of radio telescopes, from the South Pole to Hawaii and Spain.

Heino Falcke, professor of radio astronomy at Radboud University in the Netherlands, one of the project leaders, said: “I have seen many beautiful [simulated] images of how a black hole should look?.?.?.?but seeing that very first real image, you think ‘Wow it really looks like that’. It was such an emotional moment.”