Ambient pioneer Brian Eno is having a big year.
After being awarded the prestigious Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication at Starmus V science festival in Switzerland on Monday night (24 June), the musician has received an accolade from the International Astronomical Union and the Minor Planet Centre stating that an asteroid is being renamed in his honour. Asteroid 81948 (2000 OM69) will now officially be known as Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno – or Eno for short.
The certificate was presented by the astronomer who discovered Asteroid 81948, Marc Buie of the Southwest Research Institute. The award was a “surprise accolade” which Eno received the morning after Starmus festival.
The news precedes the producer’s timely reissue of his seminal album Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks. He is also pairing the remastered collection with a new LP, For All Mankind. Both are out on July 19th via UMC.
Earlier this week Brian Eno also shared the video for new track Capsule.