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That makes the discovery of an astroid belt orbiting the star Fomelhaut all the more exciting.

Apparently this would not work in real life; as Perkowitz explains, a group of physics students calcuated in 2002 that a hydrogen bomb would yield two astroid chunks that were a mere 1,200 feet apart, meaning the asteroid of "Armageddon" would still have struck Earth.

In other words, "cometary shrapnel" from a long-period comet which pinged around our solar system could have caused the impact that led to a mass extinction, rather than an astroid.

The astroid itself is small, about 500 meters in diameter.

May announced on Sept 4, a day before Mercury’s birthday, that the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center designated an astroid with the name ‘Asteroid 17473 Freddiemercury.’