Alejandro Jodorowsky has had a comet named after him.
The filmmaker and comics writer has been honoured by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planets Centre at the request of French astronomer Jean-Claude Merlin, Digital Spy reported citing Agence France-Presse.
According to The Raw Story, Jodorowsky, 84, leapt to prominence in 1970 with an offbeat “acid western” movie called “El Topo”, which was followed in 1973 by a surrealist film, “The Holy Mountain”.
Both became popular on the underground film circuit in the United States.
In France, he found success in the 1980s with science-fiction comic books, including a series called “The Incal”, illustrated by French artist Moebius. The pair created the acclaimed sci-fi comic The Incal, as well as The Eyes of the Cat.
Jodorowsky, based in Paris, also writes and talks about his own spiritual beliefs, which he calls psycho-shamanism, whose influences include tarot cards, alchemy and Zen Buddhism.
Jodorowsky joins a short list of comics creators who have been honoured with the naming of a comet, including J Michael Straczynski (for his work on TV series Babylon 5) and Carl Barks.
“Artistic” asteroids include 2362 Mark Twain, 2675 Tolkien, 8749 Beatles, 7934 Sinatra and 13070 Seanconnery. 61690 Jodorowsky orbits in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, at an average distance of 470 million kilometres (293 million miles) from the Sun.
The name was approved July 24 by the Committee on Small Body Nomenclature.
