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Arecibo Observatory Radar Imagery of Phaethon Asteroid
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Caption:
These radar images of near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon were generated by astronomers at the National Science Foundation's Arecibo Observatory on Dec. 17, 2017. Observations of Phaethon were conducted at Arecibo from Dec.15 through 19, 2017. At time of closest approach on Dec. 16 at 3 p.m. PST (6 p.m. EST, 11 p.m. UTC) the asteroid was about 6.4 million miles (10.3 million kilometers) away, or about 27 times the distance from Earth to the moon. The encounter is the closest the object will come to Earth until 2093.
Background Info:
The Arecibo Planetary Radar Program is funded by NASA's Near-Earth Object Observations Program through a grant to Universities Space Research Association (USRA), from the Near-Earth Object Observations program. The Arecibo Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by SRI International, USRA, and Universidad Metropolitana.
Cataloging Keywords:
| Name | Value | Additional Values |
|---|---|---|
| Target | 3200 Phaethon | |
| System | Near Earth Objects | |
| Target Type | Asteroid | |
| Mission | National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) | |
| Instrument Host | Arecibo Observatory | |
| Host Type | Ground-Based Observatory | |
| Instrument | Arecibo Radar | |
| Detector | ||
| Extra Keywords | Grayscale, Radar | |
| Acquisition Date | ||
| Release Date | 2017-12-22 | |
| Date in Caption | 2017-12-17 | |
| Image Credit | Arecibo Observatory/NASA/NSF | |
| Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22185 | |
| Identifier | PIA22185 | |
