
File:000898-asteroid_shape_model_(898)_Hildegard.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, 898 Hildegard is referenced by 23 other articles, and connects out to apsis, asteroid family and Paul Herget.
It sits within the topics Astronomical objects discovered in 1918, Background asteroids and Discoveries by Max Wolf.
Its subject is documented across 40 Wikipedia language editions.
Picture of the Day · NASA

Pathfinder on Mars
2026-07-04
On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.
via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- M. F. Wolf
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 3 August 1918
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ h ɪ l d ɪ ɡ ɑːr d /
- Named after
- Hildegard of Bingen , (medieval abbess)
- Alternative designations
- A918 PG · 1936 PA, 1918 EA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) background
- Observation arc
- 101.51 yr (37,075 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.7448 AU
- Perihelion
- 1.7165 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.7306 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.51 yr (1,648 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 217.55 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 13 6.24 / day
- Inclination
- 10.086°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 241.55°
- Argument of perihelion
- 49.860°
- Mean diameter
- 11.693 ± 0.153 km
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 899 Jokaste
- Follows
- 897 Lysistrata
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- 11.693
- Orbital period
- 1643.889319302277
- Image
- 000898-asteroid shape model (898) Hildegard.png
Show 19 more facts
- discoverer or inventor
- Max Wolf
- site of astronomical discovery
- Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory
- provisional designation
- A918 PG
- time of discovery or invention
- 1918-08-03
- orbital inclination
- 10.10046784209654
- Commons category
- 898 Hildegard
- albedo
- 0.205
- rotation period
- 24.855
- asteroid spectral type
- S-type asteroid
- absolute magnitude
- 11.64
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.3732769980334253
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.725938779034106
- periapsis
- 1.708408534773354
- apoapsis
- 3.743469023294858
- longitude of ascending node
- 241.4846119253534
- argument of periapsis
- 49.75047653230057
- mean anomaly
- 295.1557987750281
- time of periapsis
- 2461296.6019161455
- epoch
- November 21, 2025
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
898 Hildegard /ˈhɪldɪɡɑːrd/ is a bright background asteroid, approximately 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) in diameter, that is located in the central regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory on 3 August 1918 and given the provisional designations A918 PG and 1918 EA. The stony S-type asteroid (Sl) has a rotation period of 24.9 hours and a relatively high orbital eccentricity of 0.37. It was probably named after Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179).
Orbit and classification
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “898 Hildegard” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.