Hidalgo

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Centaur-class Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the city of Houston (38.00 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Hidalgo is a large asteroid with an orbit between Jupiter and Neptune. NASA JPL has not classified Hidalgo as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.

Hidalgo orbits the sun every 5,010 days (13.72 years), coming as close as 1.94 AU and reaching as far as 9.52 AU from the sun. Hidalgo is about 38.0 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the city of Houston.

The rotation of Hidalgo has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 10.06 hours.

Hidalgo's spectral type D (Tholen) / None (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain .

No Close Approaches

Hidalgo's orbit is 1.14 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is an extremely wide berth between this asteroid and Earth at all times.

Orbital simulations conducted by NASA JPL's CNEOS do not show any close approaches to Earth.

Images and Observations

Hidalgo's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 31, 1920. It was last officially observed on June 18, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 2,015 observations used to determine its orbit.

Scientists have been able to determine this object's shape:

View asteroid Hidalgo in 3D.

Accessibility and Exploration

This asteroid is not considered a viable target for human exploration by the NHATS study.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of Hidalgo:

• 2015 MY90
• 2015 PG119
• 2019 SO48

References

• JPL Small Body Database
• Mission Design
• Sky Finder Chart

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Hidalgo is indicated by a ◯ pink circle. Note that the object may not be in your current field of view. Use the controls below to adjust position, location, and time.