3200 Phaethon Asteroid Discovery and other Facts

3200 Phaethon is a member of the Apollo group of asteroids. They are a group of asteroids that cross the path of the Earth as it orbits the Sun. The group name comes from the first asteroid identified in the group, Apollo. The asteroid that crashed into Chelyabinsk in 2013 is a member of this group. Other members of the Apollo grouping include but not limited to :-

• 1998 SC15
• Itokawa
• 2012 UR158
• 2011 UE305
• 2011 MC

The vast majority of asteroids can be found orbiting the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids tend to be irregularly shaped but Ceres is a notable exception in that it is spherical like a planet and has been upgraded to Dwarf Planet status.

Asteroids are also known as Minor Planets, but that term has largely fallen out of favour since 2006, with a preference for using Dwarf Planets and Small Solar System Bodies. Minor Planet refers to anything, not a comet or a planet.

Normally, names and numbers are allocated to the asteroid by the Minor Planet Center (M.P.C.), part of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). Some asteroid names such as Ceres were named prior to the SAO taking responsibility allocating names and numbers. Some asteroids are dedicated by the discoverers to people or named after mythology, such as 2602 PatrickMoore (dedicated) and 15810 Arawn.

Those not named will be assigned the year it was discovered and letters. Usually, an asteroid it will just be referred to as just Phaethon, that is without the number. Number Id of an asteroid is usually indicative of when it was discovered, for example, 1 Ceres is the first asteroid to be discovered so hence it has the number 1. Debris left behind by Phaethon is responsible for the meteors in 1 meteor showers.

A close approach will occur on 2093 Dec 14, when it will get to within 0.0194 A.U. Phaethon absolute magnitude is 14.4, which is the object's brightness. A higher absolute magnitude means that the object is faint, whereas a very low number means it is very bright. The albedo of the Phaethon is 1. The albedo is the amount of radiation reflected into space Phaethon. Phaethon's aphelion is 2.403 A.U. which is the point in the orbit that is furthest from the thing (e.g. the Sun) that it is orbiting. At this point, it will then return to the orbit target. The perihelion of Phaethon is 0.140 A.U. which is the closest point that the object will get to the thing that it is orbiting. The mean anomaly of Phaethon is 59.00267, the object's angular distance from the perihelion or aphelion. Ref: Dictionary.

The Longitude of Ascending Node of Phaethon is 265.21605 degrees. It is the angle between the Reference Direction and the Ascending Node. It is generally represented by the greek letter Ω. The ascending node is the point at which the object passes north. The descending node is the southern equivalent.

The Argument of Perihelion of Phaethon is 322.1797. It is the angle along the orbit of a planet or other Solar System object as measured from the ascending node (analogous to right ascension and longitude) Ref:Hawaii.

The Mean Orbit Velocity (M.O.V.) is the speed at which it orbits is 1.00 km/h. The average distance of the object from its parent is 1.00km.

Orbital Details

Phaethon orbital period, the time it takes to complete an orbit of the Sun, is 1.43 years. The orbital inclination of Phaethon, the angle at which Phaethon orbits to the orbital plane, is 22.25647 degrees. The orbital eccentricity is 0.8897830 of Phaethon, the degree at which Phaethon orbits close to a circular (0) orbit as opposed to an elliptical (1). The semi-major axis of Phaethon orbit is 1.2714187 (A.U.), the furthest point from the centre to the edge of an elliptical. Phaethon is classed as a Large Near Earth Object (NEO) asteroid as its orbital path crosses or comes within close proximity of our planet as travels on its orbital path around the Sun. If it were to collide, it would cause a significant amount of damage to the planet.

Facts and Figures

Meteor Showers

Selected Asteroids

• 65679 1989 UQ
• 297300 1998 SC15
• 474163 1999 SO5
• 153201 2000 WO107
• 433 Eros
• 1566 Icarus
• 2703 Rodari
• 2530 Shipka
• 140 Siwa
• 4 Vesta

Comments and Questions

Adding comments or questions is currently suspended at the moment. Should you need to contact me because there's a mistake or something missing, you can do so from the About Us page.