Musician, composer and record producer Brian Eno has a new namesake in a space rock.
In a tribute to the man whose name has become synonymous with ambient music, astronomers renamed the asteroid formerly known as 81948 (2000 OM69) to Eno. Just Eno — short for Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno.
Marc Buie, a Southwest Research Institute astronomer who named the asteroid Tuesday, described the musician as “an experimental sculptor of sound.”
Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the sun like planets, but are not as large.
The honor comes just a day after Eno was presented with the Stephen Hawking Medal at the science and music festival, Starmus, for the reissue of his 1983 album, “Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks.” He received the award alongside Elon Musk.
The Stephen Hawking Medal honors the legacy of the late theoretical physicist, cosmologist, astronomer and mathematician, and this year’s award was the first handed out since his death.
Previous recipients include composer Hans Zimmer, astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson, and the television show, “The Big Bang Theory.”
Eno’s extended reissue of “Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks” is set to be released July 19 — a day before the world marks the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
