Massive mile-wide asteroid will pass Earth in just a few weeks, but its next visit will be much closer

A colossal three-mile-wide space rock named after a Greek god who almost destroyed the Earth is going to cruise past our planet on December 16th, but the asteroid's next appearance will really be one for the books. The rock, called 3200 Phaethon, was first discovered way back in 1983, and its most recent pass of Earth came in 2007. At that time, its closest approach put it at roughly 11.2 million miles from our planet, which is close in astronomical terms, but still a pretty safe distance. This ...