Near-Earth asteroid 2011 MD: an amazing movie

by Gianluca Masi · 01/16/2013

Near-Earth asteroid 2011 MD

At the end of June 2011, our planet was brushed by a little (7 to 15 meters in diameter) asteroid, 2011 MD. It reached a minimum distance for the surface of our planet of about 12.000 km (!). The Virtual Telescxope team was able to capture this rock soon after it reached the minimum distance.

The image above was obtained remotely using the PlaneWave 17 robotic unit, with the Paramount ME tracking the apparent motion of the asteroid, while 2011 MD was at about 110.000 km from us. Using all the images captured during that session, it was possible to make the video below.

Near-Earth asteroid 2011 MD

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