Aster › Space program › 3200 Phaethon
3200 Phaethon
Position on the route: 6/130 · level needed 42 · journey (Mk0 engine) 4.0 h
By the numbers
| Diameter | ≈ 5.8 km |
|---|---|
| Year | 1.43 years |
| Perihelion | ≈ 0.14 AU |
| Meteor shower | Geminids, December |
The story
Phaethon is a near-Earth asteroid found by the IRAS satellite in 1983. Its orbit dips to about 0.14 AU from the Sun, far inside Mercury’s: the closest to the Sun of any named asteroid, with a surface that heats to about 750 °C.
It is the source of the Geminid meteor shower that lights the sky in December. A strange body: it looks like an asteroid but sheds dust like a comet as it nears the Sun. JAXA’s DESTINY+ is planned to fly past it.
Missions
- DESTINY+ (JAXA, planned): a flyby
Colony note
Scorching; an observation outpost only.
What probes bring back
- The closest named asteroid to the Sun: perihelion about 0.14 AU, with surface temperatures reaching about 750 °C.
- The source of December’s Geminid meteor shower; near the Sun it sheds dust like a comet: a ‘rock comet’. JAXA’s DESTINY+ is planned to fly by.