944 Hidalgo /hɪˈdælɡoʊ/ is a centaur and unusual object on an eccentric, cometary-like orbit between the asteroid belt and the outer Solar System, approximately 52 kilometers (32 miles) in diameter.

[3] Hidalgo was discovered by German astronomer Walter Baade on 31 October 1920 at Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg, Germany.

German astronomers who were in Mexico to observe a total eclipse on 10 September 1923 had an audience with President Álvaro Obregón.

[4] The Minor Planet Center classifies it both as main-belt asteroid and unusual object due to an orbital eccentricity higher than 0.5.

[1][5][6] Hidalgo has traditionally been considered an asteroid because centaurs were not recognized as a distinct class until the discovery of 2060 Chiron in 1977.

[7][8] The prominent JPL Small-Body Database currently gives a diameter of 38 kilometers taken from the publication Hazards due to Comets and Asteroids (Tom Gehrels, 1994).

[6] 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 Hidalgo.