(3200) Phaethon

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(3200) Phaethon is an asteroid from the group of Apollo asteroids. These are celestial bodies whose cross Earth's path from the outside.

The asteroid was discovered on October 11, 1983 by the infrared satellite IRAS and after Phaeton, the son of the Greek sun god Helios, named.

Phaethon is between 0.140 AU ( perihelion ) and 2.403 AU ( aphelion ) in about 524 days on a highly elliptical orbit around the sun. The orbital eccentricity is 0.890, the orbit is inclined at 22.180 ° to the ecliptic.

The diameter of Phaethon is about 5.1 km. It has a dark surface with an albedo of about 0.1. In about 3 hours and 36 minutes to rotate around its own axis.

Phaethon comes the sun relatively close. In perihelion he reaches a speed of 200 km / s ( 720,000 km / h ) and surface temperatures around 600 ° C. Its orbit is consistent with the long-drawn cloud of dust that causes the Geminid meteor stream the. However, infrared images show that its surface is different than that of a comet from solid rock. In 2013 was the evaluation of measurements of the STEREO spacecraft weak signs of matter emissions of Phaeton. This, and the relatively small to the total mass of the geminids led to the theory that an event such as a breakup of 3200 Phateon could be the origin of

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