ASTEROID FLYBY: Asteroid 3200 Phaethon is flying past Earth today at a distance of 11 million miles. This asteroid is significant because it is the parent of the annual Geminid meteor shower due to peak later this week on Friday, Dec. 14th. Amateur astronomers with large backyard telescopes and CCD cameras may be able to photograph the space rock shining like a 14th magnitude star in the constellation Virgo: ephemeris.