Recent Close Approaches
Phaethon approached to 18.1 Gm of Earth on December 10, 2007. It will draw nearer in 2017, 2050, 2060, and closer still on December 14, 2093, passing within 0.0198 AU (3.0 Gm).
When Phaethon came to perihelion in July 2009, it was brighter than expected. As Phaethon approached perihelion in June 2009, the STEREO-A spacecraft detected an unexpected brightening, by a factor of two.
Read more about this topic: 3200 Phaethon
Famous quotes containing the words close and/or approaches:
“Although I have come close on forty-nine,
I have no child, I have nothing but a book,
Nothing but that to prove your blood and mine.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Someone approaches to say his life is ruined
and to fall down at your feet
and pound his head upon the sidewalk.”
—David Ignatow (b. 1914)