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Studio Brussel Bowie tribute makes international press
News of the constellation registered by Brussels radio station Studio Brussel and Belgium's MIRA Public Observatory in honour of the late musician David Bowie has been picked up by various international news sites, including Rolling Stone, NME, Pitchfork and The Guardian, writes Brusselnieuws.
Studio Brussel was looking for a way to pay tribute to the legendary singer, who died on 10 January after a long battle with cancer. The radio station enlisted MIRA's help, which responded by creating a new consellation made up of seven stars, representative of Bowie's iconic thunderbolt.
The lightning-shaped constellation, in the vicinity of the planet Mars, is appropriate because the universe was a recurring theme throughout Bowie's career. It consists of seven stars: Sigma Librae, Spica, Zeta Centauri, SAA 204 132, Sigma Octantis, Beta Trianguli Australis and SAO 241641. According to MIRA, the constellation was visible at the exact time of Bowie's death.
The tribute is linked to an online campaign, Stardust for Bowie, which invites listeners to add their most memorable Bowie song and include a personal message.
Comments
Sorry, but the constellation is not a constellation, and it's not registered. According to MIRA, there's nothing official at all about naming those stars in honour of David Bowie, it was just a stunt done for StuBru. A group of seven stars chosen at random like that is an asterism; a constellation is an area of the celestial sphere. Also, it doesn't make sense to say it's in the vicinity of Mars, since Mars is in our solar system, which has only one star, thankfully. The Bowie "constellation" was in the vicinity of Mars in the night sky on the night of his death. By now it's gone completely, and will probably never be seen again. Here's the link to MIRA: http://www.mira.be/nl/node/2371