944 Hidalgo

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944 Hidalgo

944 Hidalgo ( hi-dal'-goe) is an unusual asteroid

Asteroid

Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids....
, and has the longest orbital period

Orbital period

The orbital Periodicity is the time taken for a given object to make one complete orbit about another object.When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars....
(13.77 years) of any asteroid in the traditional asteroid belt

Asteroid belt

The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets....
.

It is a Centaur

Centaur (planetoid)

The centaurs are an unstable orbital class of minor planets named after the mythological race of centaurs. The name was chosen because they behave as half asteroid and half comet....
like asteroid. (This designation is given to those objects that have orbits between Jupiter

Jupiter

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the Solar system by size planet within the Solar System. It is two and a half times as massive as all of the other planets in our Solar System combined....
and Neptune

NEPTUNE

=Overview=The project, along with sister project, VENUS, offers a unique approach to ocean science. Traditionally, ocean scientists have relied on infrequent ship cruises or space-based satellites to carry out their research....
.) Though Hidalgo has a semi-major axis

Semi-major axis

In geometry, the semi-major axis is used to describe the dimensions of ellipses and hyperbolae....
beyond Jupiter, the Minor Planet Center

Minor Planet Center

The Minor Planet Center operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory , which is part of the Center for Astrophysics along with the Harvard College Observatory ....
(MPC) does not list it as a Centaur.

With a high eccentricity of 0.66, its perihelion of 1.95 AU

Astronomical unit

An astronomical unit is a unit of length based on the mean distance from the Earth to the Sun. The precise value of the AU is currently accepted as 149,597,870,691 Plus-minus sign 6 metres ....
takes it to the inner edge of the asteroid belt, while its aphelion of 9.54 AU takes it right out to Saturn's orbit, a characteristic normally associated with Saturn's family of comet

Comet

A comet is a Small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and, when close enough to the Sun, exhibits a visible coma or a tail?both primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the Comet nucleus....
s.

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Encyclopedia

944 Hidalgo ( hi-dal'-goe) is an unusual asteroid

Asteroid

Orbital period

Asteroid belt

Centaur (planetoid)

Jupiter

NEPTUNE

Semi-major axis

In geometry, the semi-major axis is used to describe the dimensions of ellipses and hyperbolae....
beyond Jupiter, the Minor Planet Center

Minor Planet Center

Astronomical unit

Comet

Saturn-crosser asteroid

A Saturn-crosser is an minor planet whose orbit crosses that of Saturn . The known numbered Saturn-crossers are listed below. There is only one inner-grazer and no outer-grazers or co-orbitals known; most if not all of the crossers are Centaur ....
as its aphelion does not clear Saturn's. Hidalgo's severe orbital inclination of 43° is suspected to be the result of a close encounter with Jupiter. Its diameter is estimated to be 38 km.

944 Hidalgo was discover

Discovery (observation)

Discovery observations form acts of detecting and learning something. Discovery observations are acts in which something is found and given a productive insight....
ed by Walter Baade

Walter Baade

Wilhelm Heinrich Walter Baade was a Germany astronomer who emigrated to the USA in 1931....
on October 31, 1920 at Bergedorf Observatory near Hamburg

Hamburg

Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany , and is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits. The city is home to approximately 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg metropolitan area has more than 4.3 million inhabitants....
, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
. It is named for Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who was responsible for declaring Mexico's independence in 1810. German astronomers who were in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
to observe a total eclipse

Solar eclipse

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is wholly or partially obscured. This can only happen during a new moon, when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction as seen from the Earth....
on September 10, 1923, had an audience with President

President of Mexico

The Constitutional Citizen President of the United Mexican States is the head of state of Mexico. Under the 1917 Constitution of Mexico, the president is also the head of government and the Commander-in-chief of the Mexican Military of Mexico....
Álvaro Obregón

Álvaro Obregón

General ?lvaro Obreg?n Salido was President of Mexico of Mexico from 1920 to 1924.Born in Siquisiva, Sonora, Municipality of Navojoa to a poor farming family, He entered politics in 1911 with his election as mayor of the town of Huatabampo....
. During this meeting, they asked his permission to name the asteroid after Hidalgo y Costilla.

It was one of five minor planets included in the 1993 study, Transition Comets -- UV Search for OH Emissions in Asteroids

Transition Comets -- UV Search for OH Emissions in Asteroids

Hubble search for transition comets was a study involving amateur astronomers and the use of the Hubble Space Telescope. This was one of only six studies involving amateur astronomers that was approved by NASA....
, which was research involving amateur astronomers who were permitted to make use of the Hubble Space Telescope.

In the late 1990s, a network of astronomers worldwide gathered lightcurve data that was ultimately used to derive the spin states and shape models of 10 new asteroids, including (944) Hidalgo. Lightcurve data has also been recorded by observers at the Antelope Hills Observatory, which has been designated as an official observatory by the Minor Planet Center

Minor Planet Center

The Minor Planet Center operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory , which is part of the Center for Astrophysics along with the Harvard College Observatory ....
.

When Pluto

Pluto

Pluto , Minor planet names Pluto, is the second-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-largest body observed directly orbiting the Sun....
was discovered Hidalgo was the furthest known asteroid from the Sun.

External links

from JPL (Java) /