Asteroid named after Whanganui musician Anthonie Tonnon

Anthonie Tonnon's asteroid is 7km in diameter. Photo / Supplied

Whanganui musician Anthonie Tonnon has been given a rare honour, one that's put him right up there with Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Brian Wilson, and Lemmy Kilmister.

He's had an asteroid named after him, courtesy of New Zealand astronomer Dr Ian Griffin.

Griffin, the director of Otago Museum, said naming an asteroid was a complicated process.

"Finding it is one thing, but it can't get numbered, which is the next stage, until it's been around the sun three or four times," Griffin said.

"Because asteroids take four-odd years to go around, it's going to be the best part of 12-13 years.

"One it's numbered, you know where it's going to be for the next million years, basically."

Tonnon is 7km in diameter and weighs up to 1 billion tonnes.

After the asteroid has been numbered, its discoverer is allowed to propose a name.

"That goes through The Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature, which is a brilliant name in itself," Griffin said.

"You're not allowed to name them after yourself, which is a good thing, and you're not allowed to name it after military or political leaders of the last century.

"Naming it after your pet is frowned upon."

Griffin said he had been a huge fan of Tonnon ever since the musician presented A Synthesised Universe at Otago Museum in 2018.

It was then that he put the name forward for consideration.

"In the asteroids I've found, I've tried to reflect some aspects of New Zealand culture, places, and music.

"New Zealand music is as good as any around the world, and we should celebrate it."

Tonnon said he was humbled by Griffin's name-drop.

"The six-year-old me would be very happy about it, and I'm very happy about it," Tonnon said.

"There aren't many Tonnons around, so it's a nice thing to share with the ever-shrinking Tonnon family.

"Being between Mars and Jupiter is just far-enough away, but it's also close enough that someone might actually get there one day.

"We could get a s

Whanganui musician Anthonie Tonnon. Photo / File

pace probe there at some point."

Griffin said discovering Tonnon was a byproduct of looking for near-Earth asteroids.

"Near-Earth asteroids are the ones that potentially hit Earth and destroy the human race."

At present, Tonnon is orbiting through the constellation of Taurus the Bull.

"It orbits the sun in 1677 days, which is 4.6 years," Griffin said.

Dr Ian Griffin, right. Photo / File

"For me, the main thing is it's about the people you honour with these things.

"Anthonie is a really creative individual who's doing some amazing things, so it's great that he gets recognised in this way."