Comets · 2
Active Asteroids
Asteroids that show comet-like activity, such as the Geminids parent Phaethon.
- 3200 Phaethon(3200)
A near-Earth asteroid that brightens and sheds dust as it passes very close to the Sun — a 'rock comet' — and the parent body of the Geminid meteor shower, unusual for a shower whose source is an asteroid rather than a comet.
TypeTransition objectDiscovered1983 - 7968 Elst–Pizarro(7968)
The prototype main-belt comet — an object on an ordinary asteroid-belt orbit that repeatedly develops a comet-like tail, carrying both an asteroid number and a comet designation.
TypeTransition objectDiscovered1996