3200 Phaethon

3200 Phaethon
Phaethon from Mercury_Crosser.zip in Orbiter 2005P1
Designation
Name	3200 Phaethon
Reference body	Sun
Number of satellites	0
Planetary mean orbits
Epoch	2005.16769336071
Semimajor axis (a)	190189089084.484 m
Eccentricity (e)	0.890018386540526
Inclination (i)	22.1721078878923° (0.386976284751127 radian)
Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)	265.422886250338° (4.63250327521479 radian)
Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)	587.405199734612° radian (10.2521547787039 radian)
Mean longitude (L)	587.721540541843° (10.2576759673485 radians)
Rotational Elements
Sidereal Rotation Period	12974.4 seconds (3.604 hours)
Sidereal Rotation Offset	0
Obliquity	0 radians 0.1°
LAN	0
Selected physical parameters
Mean radius	5100 m
Mass	1.4×10<su>14 kg
Note	*Elements given are from 3200 Phaethon.cfg (Mercury_Crosser.zip).

3200 Phaethon (1983 TB) is object. It was discovered by Simon Green on 11 October 1983 from images from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS).

The orbit of Phaethon varies from about 0.14 to 2.4 AU, which makes Phaethon cross the orbits of all four of the inner planets.

Phaethon is about 6.13 km × 4.40 km × 0.06 km, mean radius is about 5.8 km.

3200 Phaethon in Orbiter

Phaethon was introduced to Orbiter with the release of Mercury_Crosser.zip in June 2005.

Note that the landing surface as given in the config file is spherical, but the visual of Phaethon is not, if you land, you will likely be above or below the visual surface. The hard radius is larger than the waist of the body, but smaller than the ends. At the ends, your ship will go below the visual surface and you can see the backside. The Sun is visible through at least some parts of the body, even from the outside where another part of the body hides the Sun. The landing/docking light works on Phaethon, but not from the inside.

Orbiter versions and add-ons which include 1566 Icarus
Add-on	Source	Version	Author	Type	Release Date	Compatibility	Wiki article
Mercury Crosser Asteroids	O-F Resources	2005-06-01	Nighthawke	Scenery	2 June 2005	all versions

See also

3200 Phaethon at Wikpedia

Gallery

• 
  1566 Icarus from Mercury_Crosser.zip in Orbiter 2005P1
• 
  Animation of radar images of Pheathon taken on 17 December 2017
  from Wikimedia Commons
• 
  Animation of the orbit of Phaethon compared to the orbits of the inner planets
  from Wikimedia Commons