It seems so fitting for a star who was extinguished to soon, Freddie Mercury now has an asteroid in his name and is literally now  a “”a shooting star leaping through the sky”

The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center renamed Asteroid 17473 as “Freddiemercury” for the former Queen singer.  Brian May,  who was the guitarist in the band who also studies astrophysics, recorded a video announcing the honor for an event Sunday celebrating Mercury in Switzerland.

Freddie passed away in 1991 the same year this comet was discovered.

“It’s just a dot of light,” May says. “But it’s a very special dot of light.”

May’s video also includes a brief clip of the asteroid in motion:

Asteroid17473gif
http://www.brianmay.com/