Freddie Mercury
Kash Cooke, sister of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the rock band Queen attends the opening of a photographic exhibition documenting the singer's life in Bombay, October 18. The exhibition which consists of 94 photographs taken by some of the world's leading photographers is being staged in the city to raise AIDS awareness in India. Mercury who was born to Indian parents died of an AIDS related illness in November 1991. Reuters/SK/WS

In commemoration of what would have been Freddie Mercury’s 70th birthday, the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Minor Planet Center has named an asteroid in honour of the Queen frontman.

“Freddie Mercury sang, ‘I’m a shooting star leaping through the sky’ – and now that is even more true than ever before,” Joel Parker of the Southwest Research Institute, who issued the Certified of Designation, told the BBC.

According to the Guardian, the 3.5 km-wide “Freddiemercury” asteroid is found on the other side of Mars and poses no immediate danger to Earth.

Astrophysicist Brian May, Mercury’s former bandmate, announced the asteroid during last weekend’s “Freddie for a Day” celebration in Switzerland. On a YouTube video, the Queen guitarist revealed that Asteroid 1747, discovered in 1991 (the same year Mercury died due to complications from AIDS), would now be known as “Asteroid 17473 Freddiemercury.”

Watch: Freddie Mercury Asteroid

“This is to recognise Freddie’s outstanding influence in the world,” May said. “It's a dark object – rather like a cinder in space. Viewed from the Earth it is more than 10,000 times fainter than you can see by eye, so you need a fair sized telescope to see it.”

According to the IAU, the iconic singer was given this honour because “his distinctive sound and large vocal range were hallmarks of his performance style, and he is regarded as one of the greatest rock singers of all time.”

“Even if you can’t see Freddiemercury leaping through the sky, you can be sure he’s there – ‘floating around in ecstasy,’ as he might sing, for millennia to come,” Parker said.

Mercury wrote and performed hits such as “We Are the Champions” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” with Queen. The group had released over a dozen albums between 1973 and 1991.