Why does this asteroid look like a comet? - study
An asteroid has puzzled scientists for years by mimicking comet-like behavior; now, researchers are questioning everything they knew about it.
This illustration depicts asteroid Phaethon being heated by the Sun. The asteroid’s surface gets so hot that sodium inside Phaethon’s rock likely vaporizes and vents into space, causing it to brighten like a comet and form a tail.(photo credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/IPAC)
