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Centaur

Hidalgo

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944 Hidalgo (A920 UB)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
9.35 AU
True anomaly
187.85°
Distance from Earth
9.789 AU
As of
11 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Hidalgo — 9.35 AU from the Sun Hidalgo
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Hidalgo is 9.789 AU from Earth today (1.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 10m 20s
Declination
-57° 22′ 18″
Constellation
Norma
Distance from Earth
9.79 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.87° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
5.729 AU
Eccentricity
0.6621
Inclination
42.52°
Orbital period
13.71 years
Perihelion
1.936 AU
Aphelion
9.522 AU
Longitude of ascending node
21.33°
Argument of periapsis
56.63°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 443.0 LD
1.1383 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.067

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,657
Data arc
103.5 years
First observed
31 October 1920
Last observed
12 May 2024
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 March 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
19 km
Rotation period
10.06 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.06
Absolute magnitude (H)
10.55
Colour index (B–V)
0.74
Spectral type (Tholen)
D
Colour index (U–B)
0.26

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Baade, W.
Discovery date
31 October 1920
Discovery site
Bergedorf

Also known as 944 · 1920 HZ · A920 UB

Centaur Named

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2076-05-09 16:58:00 Juptr 1.9025 AU 740.4 LD 9.4 km/s
2171-12-09 18:46:00 Juptr 1.2219 AU 475.5 LD 14.8 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources