Asteroid
Phaethon
Phaethon is a near-Earth object on its own orbit around the Sun.
The Geminids come from this one. It swings closer to the Sun than Mercury does and sheds dust when it gets there.
See it live
Where it is right now is on the live 3D map.
Key facts
- Catalogue
- 3200 Phaethon
- Diameter
- 5.80 km
- One lap of the Sun
- 524 days
- Closest to the Sun
- 0.14 au
How the map draws it
Drawn as a generic asteroid — the kind of thing, not this exact one.