New Star Formation Named After David Bowie

A new star formation has been registered in honour of David Bowie, just a week after his death at the age of 69.

The legendary south London musician died at his New York City home on Sunday, January 10, after an 18-month battle with cancer. During the course of an extraordinarily successful and highly influential career, he sold an estimated 140 million albums. He was inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame in January 1996.

The new constellation consists of seven stars in all, which form a shape that is thought to be similar to the lightning bolt painted on Bowie's face for the cover of his classic 1973 album, Aladdin Sane.

The constellation was registered by Belgium's MIRA Public Observatory and the radio station Studio Brussels.

In a statement, Philippe Mollet from MIRA Public Observatory said: "Studio Brussels asked us to give Bowie a unique place in the galaxy.

"Referring to his various albums, we chose seven stars - Sigma Librae, Spica, Alpha Virginis, Zeta Centauri, SAA 204 132, and the Beta Sigma Octantis Trianguli Australis - in the vicinity of Mars.

"The constellation is a copy of the iconic Bowie lightning and was recorded at the exact time of his death."

This is not the first scientific naming in Bowie’s honour. The spider Heteropoda davidbowie is called after him.

Bowie's final album Blackstar was released on Friday, January 8. It went straight to No.1 in Ireland this week, as well as in the UK, where it has already gone gold, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden.