TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Far-away asteroid named after Freddie Mercury on birthday
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
In this July 20, 1986 file photo, Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury performs, in Germany. (AP/Marco Arndt)
Q
ueen guitarist Brian May says an asteroid in Jupiter's orbit has been named after the band's late frontman Freddie Mercury on what would have been his 70th birthday.
May says the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre has designated an asteroid discovered in 1991, the year of Mercury's death, as "Asteroid 17473 Freddiemercury."
(Read also: Study: Dinosaurs were declining long before asteroid hit)
May, who has a doctorate in astrophysics from Imperial College, London, says the newly named asteroid is "just a dot of light, but it's a very special dot of light" and recognizes Mercury's musical and performing talents.
Mercury, born Sept. 5, 1946, wrote and performed hits including "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Are The Champions" with Queen, releasing over a dozen studio albums between 1973 and 1991.
