Brian May is best known as the guitarist of Queen, but he is also an accomplished what?

Brian Harold May CBE (born 19 July 1947) is the world-famous guitarist of the British band Queen, which he founded with drummer Roger Taylor, singer Freddie Mercury and bassist John Deacon. He has composed and written lyrics on many Queen songs, and he has built his guitar "Red Special" himself from scratch with the help of his father.

In addition to his musical career, Brian May is an accomplished astronomer. He studied astronomy before his musical career, and after the death of Freddie Mercury and ensuing hiatus of Queen, he completed his Ph.D in astrophysics from Imperial College London in 2007, and was Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University from 2008 to 2013. He was a "science team collaborator" with NASA's New Horizons Pluto mission. He is also a co-founder of the awareness campaign Asteroid Day. Asteroid 52665 Brianmay was named after him.

May is also an animal rights activist, campaigning against the hunting of foxes and the culling of badgers in the UK.