This is a stony S-type asteroid with a diameter of 87+5−4 km and a sidereal rotation period of 27.07 h.[6] It orbits in the same region of space as the Hygiea asteroid family, though it is actually an unrelated interloper.

However, its geometric albedo of 0.22±0.03[6] is too high, and it is of the wrong spectral class to be part of the dark carbonaceous Hygiea family.

It is listed as a member of the Hecuba group of asteroids that orbit near the 2:1 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter.

[7] Hekate was the 100th asteroid to be discovered, by Canadian-American astronomer J. C. Watson (his fourth discovery) on July 11, 1868.

A Hekatean occultation of a star was observed on July 14, 2003, from New Zealand.