Asteroid named after Freddie Mercury to honor his 70th birthday

Monday marks the 70th birthday of the late, great Freddie Mercury, frontman to the rock band Queen. 

Mercury graced humanity with hits like Somebody to Love and Don’t Stop Me Now, and now he’s gracing the cosmos. In honor of what would be Mercury’s 70th birthday, British astronomers have christened asteroid 17473 “Freddiemercury.” The Freddiemercury asteroid was originally discovered in 1991, the year that Mercury died.

According to the Guardian, the asteroid orbits the sun at about 44,739 miles per hour and, at its closest, it’s roughly 217 million miles from Earth.

Queen’s lead guitarist Brian May made the announcement on YouTube.

H/T Guardian