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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

Phaethon

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3200 Phaethon (1983 TB)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.002 AU
True anomaly
145.77°
Distance from Earth
0.373 AU
As of
11 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Phaethon — 1.002 AU from the Sun Phaethon
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Phaethon is 0.373 AU from Earth today (3.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 24m 54s
Declination
+53° 27′ 31″
Constellation
Draco
Distance from Earth
0.37 AU
Elongation from the Sun
80.96° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
1.271 AU
Eccentricity
0.8897
Inclination
22.31°
Orbital period
523.7 days
Perihelion
0.14 AU
Aphelion
2.403 AU
Longitude of ascending node
265.1°
Argument of periapsis
322.3°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 7.3 LD
0.0187 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
4.51

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
8,635
Data arc
42.95 years
First observed
27 October 1983
Last observed
9 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
3.13 km
Rotation period
3.6 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.107
Absolute magnitude (H)
14.38
Spectral type (SMASS)
B
Spectral type (Tholen)
F

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
IRAS
Discovery date
11 October 1983
Discovery site
IRAS

Also known as 3200 · 1983 TB

Apollo Near-Earth Object Named Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 31 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Phaethon at 2050-12-11 19:44 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2050-12-11 19:44 UTC close approach of Phaethon. Catalogue miss distance 32.1 LD · 1.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2050-12-08 to 2050-12-14, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 9 Dec 14 Dec 32.1 LD · 1.24 × 10⁷ km 2050-12-11 19:44 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2050-12-11 19:44 UTC close approach of Phaethon. Catalogue miss distance 32.1 LD · 1.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2050-12-08 to 2050-12-14, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2050-12-11 19:44:00 Earth 0.0826 AU 32.1 LD 36.2 km/s
2060-12-18 11:32:00 Earth 0.1111 AU 43.2 LD 30.6 km/s
2093-12-14 10:52:00 Earth 0.0198 AU 7.7 LD 34.2 km/s
2093-12-25 00:35:00 Venus 0.1275 AU 49.6 LD 35 km/s
2098-04-14 11:50:00 Venus 0.0865 AU 33.7 LD 37.1 km/s
2102-08-03 23:07:00 Venus 0.0569 AU 22.2 LD 39.1 km/s
2103-12-22 08:49:00 Earth 0.1715 AU 66.8 LD 29 km/s
2106-11-22 11:34:00 Venus 0.052 AU 20.2 LD 40.9 km/s
2111-03-12 21:35:00 Venus 0.0755 AU 29.4 LD 43 km/s
2115-07-01 04:24:00 Venus 0.1125 AU 43.8 LD 45.2 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources