Today, September 5, 2016, would have been Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury’s 70th birthday. In honour of this, his bandmate Brian May has announced an asteroid is being named after the rockstar. Asteroid 17473, discovered in 1991 – the same year that Mercury died – will now be known as Asteroid 17473 Freddiemercury, to recognise Freddie’s influence in the world. The asteroid is in the main belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and is around 3.5km across. When viewed from the Earth it is more than 10,000 times fainter than you can see by eye. The certificate of ‘adoption’ was issued by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the Minor Planet Centre. . . . Read more
