News Excerpt:

The GROWTH-India Telescope recently achieved a remarkable feat, capturing images of a 116-meter asteroid, designated 2011 MW1, as it made its closest approach to Earth.

More about the image:

• The telescope recorded the asteroid passing at a distance of just 10 times the lunar distance from Earth, travelling at an astonishing speed of 28,946 kilometres per hour.
• As a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA), 2011 MW1's swift motion was so pronounced that it caused background stars to appear as streaks in the images captured by the telescope. 
• This observation is a part of the GROWTH-India project's broader mission to study fast transients and variable sources in the universe.

GROWTH-India Telescope:

• Located at the Indian Astronomical Observatory in Hanle, Ladakh, the GROWTH-India Telescope, India's first fully robotic optical research telescope, is a collaborative initiative involving the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB).
• The project is supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum.
• As part of the Global Relay of Observatories Watching Transients Happen (GROWTH) network, the telescope contributes to a global effort to provide continuous monitoring of celestial events.
• The primary mission of the GROWTH-India Telescope is to observe explosive transients and variable sources, including near-Earth asteroids.
• Its advanced imaging technology allows for detailed tracking and study of fast-moving objects in the sky, making it a critical tool for understanding the dynamics and potential threats posed by these objects.

The successful observation of 2011 MW1 exemplified the telescope's capability to monitor and analyze near-Earth objects, contributing valuable data to the global scientific community.