Asteroid 3200 Phaethon, a space oddity, is even stranger than astronomers thought, NASA researchers said Tuesday. The asteroid acts like a comet and astronomers had thought its tail was made of dust, ...

What’s the difference between an asteroid and a comet? A comet is basically a dirty iceball composed of rock and ice. The classic image is of a bright “star” in the night sky with a long curved tail ...

New observations of asteroid 3200 Phaethon have upended years of assumptions about this already bizarre object while adding another layer of mystery to the Geminids, one of the year's best meteor ...

A large flying object expected in December has caught NASA's attention, but it isn't Santa Claus' sleigh. Instead, an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon is projected to come close enough to Earth that it's ...

Astronomers have discovered that a potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid, 3200 Phaethon, has an unusual accelerating spin that could eventually change its trajectory through the solar system. When ...

Princeton astronomer Charles H. Young (1834-1908) used to tell his students that small asteroids were hardly more than "mountains broken loose," compared to the solar system's larger asteroids which ...

Eric Mack has been a CNET contributor since 2011. Eric and his family live 100% energy and water independent on his off-grid compound in the New Mexico desert. Eric uses his passion for writing about ...

The Geminid meteor shower is best known for the reliable show it puts on during the winter holiday season. But the event is also unique because it stems not from a comet but from an asteroid: 3200 ...

Phaethon is just the 11th known asteroid to demonstrate a changing rotational period. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. The Japan ...