Phaethon

Phaethon — asteroid, explore its interactive 3D model in Cosmoscope.

Explore Phaethon in a live 3D Solar System. Follow its calculated motion and inspect real astronomical data, distances and orbital facts.

A “rock comet” that swoops far inside Mercury’s orbit, where the Sun bakes it hot enough to crack rock. Grit shed along its path rains into Earth’s sky every December as the Geminid meteor shower.

Diameter

~6 km

Discovered

1983 — IRAS satellite

Perihelion

0.14 AU — far closer to the Sun than Mercury

Day

3 h 36 m

Meteors

Parent of the Geminid shower

Model

Convex lightcurve model · Hanuš et al. 2016/2018 · DAMIT

Attitude

Illustrative; not a predicted pole orientation

Explore Phaethon in 3D

Cosmoscope places Phaethon in the Solar System using astronomical ephemeris or orbital elements, updated for the simulation time. Explore its calculated motion, distance and orbital facts in the interactive 3D view. Accuracy depends on the orbital model and its valid time range.