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Asteroid Vs. Comet: What The Heck Is 3200 Phaethon?

Tuesday, September 10, 2013 10:53

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(Before It's News)

A very zoomed-in image of Phaethon from NASA’s STEREO spacecraft, showing a comet-like extension. Credit: Jewitt, Li, Agarwal /NASA/STEREO

Sometimes, putting things into categories difficult. Witness how many members of the general public are still unhappy that Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet, a decision made by the International Astronomical Union more than seven years ago.

And now we have 3200 Phaethon, an asteroid that is actually behaving like a comet. Scientists found dust that is streaming from this space rock as it gets close to the sun — similarly to how ices melt and form a tail as comets zoom by our closest stellar neighbor.

Phaethon’s orbit puts it in the same originating region as other asteroids (between Mars and Jupiter), but its dust stream is much closer to actions performed by a comet — an object that typically comes from an icy region way beyond Neptune. So far, therefore, the research team is calling Phaethon a “rock comet.” And after first proposing a theory a few years ago, they now have observations as to what may be going on.

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Read the rest of Asteroid Vs. Comet: What The Heck Is 3200 Phaethon? (426 words)