Brian May has admitted his latest project was “very emotional” as he took to Instagram to share a heartfelt post with fans. The 77-year-old legendary Queen guitarist and astrophysicist is currently in Germany where he is part of the the Science team for the HERA mission Fly-By of Mars and its tiny moon Deimos – the smaller of Mars’ two natural satellites. Thrilled as they managed to capture images of Deimos he excitedly posted video and images.

“This was the moment when the first beautiful image of Deimos and its parent planet appeared on our screens in the HERA control centre last night… Very emotional! And that is the first time Deimos has been seen from this angle from just 1000km away. Historic moment!! More soon!!! Notice Deimos is very dark – actually blacker than coal – so it almost looks like a silhouette – but by adjusting exposures we will see some detail on it,” he wrote.

He also incorporated his love of stereoscopy into the project posting dual images saying: “The opportunity to make a stereo is there – which can reveal topography which will eventually add greatly to our knowledge of this intriguing body.”

Fans shared in his excitement and took tothe comments to commend him on the historic moment.

“Truly amazing and thanks for sharing this with. A very important time in history. Thanks can’t wait to learn more about this exciting times,” one wrote.

“This is incredible and exciting that this pic was being taken just as you were first seeing the images. You can just feel the excitement in the room!” another gushed.

A third chimed in: “Must be so incredibly exciting to see the results of a lot of work after a long wait for the first time!”

“It’s really cool, Bri! Thank you very much for keeping us updated. Can’t wait to see more!” a fourth exclaimed.

A fifth complimented him saying: “Thanks Brian! I love it when people don’t box themselves in with what they ‘are’ professionally.”

Meanwhile a sixth commented: “Speechless!! Extraordinary! Thank you Doctor for sharing.”