Tom Morello supports fan petition to name black hole after Chris Cornell

The first ever photograph of the black hole emerged last week

Tom Morello has got behind a fan petition to name the newly photographed black hole after Chris Cornell.

Earlier this week (April 10), astronomers released an image they took of a black hole, which is located in the M87 galaxy (located over 500 million trillion KM away) and measures 40 billion KM across  – roughly three million times the size of Earth.

“It has a mass 6.5 billion times that of the Sun,” Radboud University in the Netherlands’ Prof Heino Falcke, who proposed the experiment, told the BBC. “And it is one of the heaviest black holes that we think exists. It is an absolute monster, the heavyweight champion of black holes in the Universe.”

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Now, Tom Morello has voiced his support to a fan who wants the black hole named after the late Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman to honour his legacy and pay homage to the Soundgarden song ‘Black Hole Sun’.

When asked about his thoughts on the petition by Rock 105 WRXR radio, Morello said: “I heard that. I think that would be really nice. I don’t know who you send that petition to, but I’d be happy to officially add my name to that…That seems absolutely appropriate.”

The petition’s creator, Giuliana Jarrin said: “Almost two years ago, we lost Chris Cornell. He was the lead singer for Soundgarden and Audioslave and above all, the voice of an entire generation…Black Hole Sun, written by Chris Cornell is without a doubt Soundgarden’s most recognisable and most popular song, and one of the biggest anthems of the ’90s.

“For this reason, and the impact Chris Cornell had in the lives of so many and music itself, I ask NASA, the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration and all the astronomers and scientists involved in this discovery, to name this black hole after Chris Cornell. This would be a ‘surreal’ and amazing way to honour his life and his contribution to music.”

However, the petition may be futile as the black hole has already been officially named as ‘Powehi’, from a Hawaiian term meaning “the embellished dark source of unending creation.”

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Last week, the Soundgarden Twitter account was quick to notice the picture, tweeting “looks oddly familiar” in reference to an image from the band’s 1994 video accompanying the song’s release.

In related news, official footage has now emerged of the moment that Dave Grohl performed Audioslave’s ‘Show Me How To Live’ at Chris Cornell’s recent memorial concert.

The tribute to the late singer took place in January and saw fans being treated to a rare on-stage collaboration between Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, and Audioslave members Tom Morello and Brad Wilk.

The all-star line up paid tribute to Cornell with an emotional performance of Audioslave’s ‘Show Me How to Live’, and high quality footage of the performance has now arrived on Cornell’s official Instagram.

While it’s yet to be revealed whether the entire show will be released, the footage would suggest that a full release could perhaps be on the cards.

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