logo
welcome
Space

Space

Meet Phaethon, a weird asteroid that thinks it's a comet – our new research may explain what's going on

Space
Summary
Nutrition label

72% Informative

Phaethon is a "rock comet" that blurs the definitions between asteroid and comet.

It was discovered by chance in 1983 by two astronomers at the University of Leicester .

It is the source of the annual Geminid meteor shower one of the brightest meteor displays in Earth 's calendar.

Most likely, Phaethon was emitting dust many years ago .

This would have produced the debris band that creates the Geminid shower each time the particles come into contact with Earth ’s atmosphere.

If we are proven right, it will redefine how scientists think about solar heating as a geological process by making it relevant not only to comets but also to asteroids.