The International Astronomical Union has named a small planet after Gábor Presser, the Hungarian pianist, songwriter and singer.
According to a Facebook post by Hungarian astronomer László Kiss, the celestial body was discovered by Hungarian astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky in August 2013.
In its description, the IAU said that Presser, born in 1948, is “a Hungarian composer, pianist and singer” and “a key member of the former Omega and Locomotiv GT bands, considered among the most significant Hungarian bands”. It added that he is the musical director of the Vígszínház in Budapest and “one of the most prominent figures in Hungarian popular music”.
Presser is not the first Hungarian cultural figure to have his name placed among the stars. Sárneczky has also named discoveries after the writer and Nobel laureate László Krasznahorkai and the film director Béla Tarr. Earlier celestial bodies were named after the 19th-century writer Mór Jókai, the poet János Arany and the industrialist Ábrahám Ganz.
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