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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 3200 Phaethon

Below the horizon.  Rise: 9:07 | Tran: 16:08 | Set: 23:09
Alt: -2.18°   Az: 292.76°   Direction: West-North-West

Asteroid 3200 Phaethon was discovered on October 11, 1983, by Simon Green and John K. Davies using data from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS). Its name comes from Greek mythology, where Phaethon was the son of the sun god Helios. Phaethon is an Apollo asteroid, meaning it has a highly eccentric orbit that crosses the Earth's orbit, and it is the parent body of the Geminid meteor shower. It has a diameter of about 5.8 kilometers and an elongated, irregular shape. The surface of Phaethon is believed to be heavily cratered and covered in a layer of dust, and it may have a composition similar to some types of meteorites. Its orbit brings it closer to the Sun than any other named asteroid, with a perihelion of just 0.14 astronomical units (AU) and an aphelion of 2.4 AU. Phaethon has an orbital period of 1.4 years and rotates once on its axis every 3.6 hours.

Asteroid 3200 Phaethon is in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 162,538,908.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 32m 41s and the Declination is +12° 10’ 56” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon is 16.73 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 3200 Phaethon in Pisces on February, 10 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 3200 Phaethon in Pisces on February, 10 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 3200 Phaethon is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

3200 Phaethon
RA: 01h 31m 21s
Dec: +12° 03’ 12”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 3200 Phaethon. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Asteroid 3200 Phaethon?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 3200 Phaethon in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

01h 32m 41s
+12° 10’ 56”
07h 17m 57s
08h 50m 39s

J2000

01h 31m 21s
+12° 03’ 12”

Additional Information

Pisces
16.73

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 77.7°
Max altitude: 50.8°
Azimuth: 282.2°
  • 3200 Phaethon is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 3200 Phaethon is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon from Earth is currently 162,538,908.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.0865054913 Astronomical Units. Light takes 9m 2.171s to travel from Asteroid 3200 Phaethon and arrive to us.

162,538,908.0
1.0865054913
9m 2.171s

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 3200 Phaethon from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon to Earth happens on Mon Dec 14 2093 at a distance of 0.021741 Astronomical Units, or 3,252,462 kilometers:

Mon Dec 14 2093
3,252,462
0.021741

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Chart of the magnitude of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.88989538
Orbit inclination i 22.27353064°
Perihelion distance q 0.13998062 AU
20,940,802 km
Aphelion distance Q 2.40270321 AU
359,439,285 km
Semi-major axis a 1.27134191 AU
190,190,044 km
Orbital period period 1.4335 years
523.5908 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2023-Oct-20 18:55:33
2,460,238.2886 JD
Next perihelion transit 2025-Mar-27 09:06
2,460,761.8793 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 322.21663354453°
Longitude of the ascending node node 265.17233866659°
Mean anomaly M 196.50611414572°
Mean motion n 0.68755988°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon
View Asteroid 3200 Phaethon in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Feb 03 01h 31m 37s +13° 46’ 11” 16.85 Pisces
2025 Feb 04 01h 31m 41s +13° 33’ 38” 16.83 Pisces
2025 Feb 05 01h 31m 45s +13° 21’ 17” 16.82 Pisces
2025 Feb 06 01h 31m 51s +13° 09’ 08” 16.81 Pisces
2025 Feb 07 01h 31m 59s +12° 57’ 09” 16.80 Pisces
2025 Feb 08 01h 32m 08s +12° 45’ 20” 16.78 Pisces
2025 Feb 09 01h 32m 18s +12° 33’ 39” 16.77 Pisces
2025 Feb 10 01h 32m 29s +12° 22’ 05” 16.75 Pisces
2025 Feb 11 01h 32m 41s +12° 10’ 39” 16.73 Pisces
2025 Feb 12 01h 32m 54s +11° 59’ 18” 16.72 Pisces
2025 Feb 13 01h 33m 07s +11° 48’ 01” 16.70 Pisces
2025 Feb 14 01h 33m 21s +11° 36’ 48” 16.67 Pisces
2025 Feb 15 01h 33m 36s +11° 25’ 36” 16.65 Pisces
2025 Feb 16 01h 33m 51s +11° 14’ 26” 16.63 Pisces

Additional Resources