She admitted that there are still "quite a few challenges that need to be overcome," because looking at Sagittarius A* from Earth is like trying to see a DVD from the surface of the moon. To be able to photograph it, the team found a way to simulate a telescope that's as big as our planet: they linked nine radio telescopes from different places around the globe.

They also had to find a wavelength of light that could capture it, and it took them "upwards of a million simulations" to decide on 1.3mm. That specific wavelength is expected to show the black hole's turbulent gases as glowing crescents of light around the event horizon itself, similar to the simulations below. At least that's what scientists think they'll get based on general relativity -- we'll have to wait for the actual pictures next year to be absolutely sure.

[Image credit: X-ray: NASA/UMass/D.Wang et al., IR: NASA/STScI / Feryel Ozel (event horizon simulation)]