There is now a lightning bolt shaped constellation named after David Bowie

Belgian astronomers today announced naming a new constellation after the legendary David Bowie. Bowie, 69, who passed away on 10 January after an 18-month battle against cancer has been immortalized by way of seven stars positioned in the approximate vicinity of Mars.

The collection of stars, which trace out a lightning bolt shape, is evocative of his 1973 album cover Aladdin Sane, which depicted his face having a red and blue lightning bolt painted across it.

Philippe Mollet from the MIRA Observatory said in a statement: “it was not easy to determine the appropriate stars”. “Studio Brussels asked us to give Bowie a unique place in the galaxy,” he said.

“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 constellation is part of the Stardust to Bowie project that lets fans pay their tributes to him using the popular astronomy tool Google Sky, in which they can attribute their favourite Bowie songs along with a note to the virtual constellation.