Phaëthon

Pha·ë·thon

P0231200 (fā′ə-thŏn′, -thən)n. Greek Mythology A son of the sun god Helios who was killed by Zeus while trying to drive his father's chariot across the sky.

[Latin Phaëtōn, Phaëthōn, from Greek Phaethōn, from phaethōn, present participle of phaethein, to shine; see bhā- in Indo-European roots.]

Phaethon

(ˈfeɪəθən) n (Celestial Objects) an asteroid (6.9 km in diameter) that has an orbit approaching close to the sun and releases fragments of dust that enter the earth's atmosphere as meteors

Phaëthon

(ˈfeɪəθən) n (Classical Myth & Legend) Greek myth the son of Helios (the sun god) who borrowed his father's chariot and nearly set the earth on fire by approaching too close to it. Zeus averted the catastrophe by striking him down with a thunderbolt

Pha•ë•thon

(ˈfeɪ ə θən, -ˌθɒn)

n. (in Greek myth) a son of Helios who borrowed the chariot of the sun, but could not control its course and was killed by Zeus to prevent the earth from catching fire. [< Greek Phaéthōn, n. use of present participle of phaéthein to shine]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.Phaethon - (Greek mythology) son of Helios; killed when trying to drive his father's chariot and came too close to earthGreek mythology - the mythology of the ancient Greeks

2.Phaethon - type genus of the Phaethontidaegenus Phaethonbird genus - a genus of birdsfamily Phaethontidae, Phaethontidae - tropicbirdsboatswain bird, tropic bird, tropicbird - mostly white web-footed tropical seabird often found far from land

Phaëthon

(fā`əthən, –tən) or

Phaëton

(fā`ətən), in Greek mythology, son of Helios and the nymph Clymene. He tried to drive his father's golden chariot, but he could not control its great steeds. As the chariot plunged to earth it burned Mt. Oeta and dried the Libyan Desert. The universe would have been destroyed by fire if Zeus had not killed Phaëthon with a thunderbolt.

Phaethon

((3200) Phaeton) A 6.9-km-diameter Apollo asteroid discovered in 1983 on photographs taken by the infrared satellite IRAS. Its unusual orbit (eccentricity 0.89, inclination 22.17?%) crosses the orbits of Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury and takes it to a perihelion of 0.14 AU from the Sun. This is the closest approach to the Sun of any known asteroid. Phaethon's 1.43-year orbit is almost identical to the Geminid meteoroid stream, and Phaethon is now generally assumed to be the parent of the Geminids. Before Phaethon's discovery meteor showers were thought to be associated only with comets, and there has been considerable debate as to whether it is an extinct comet.

Phaëthon

ill-fated driver of the chariot of sun. [Gk. Myth.: Metamorphoses]See: Flying