It was discovered on 3 March 1929, by Belgian astronomer Sylvain Arend at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle.

[13] Five nights later, the body was independently discovered by Max Wolf at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany.

Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined, concurring rotation period of 6.58–6.63 hours with a brightness variation between 0.31 and 0.58 magnitude (U=3/3-/2).

[8][9][10][11][14] According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Chimay measures between 36.1 and 37.7 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a low albedo between 0.079 and 0.089.

[4][5][6][7] In accordance with the space-based surveys, the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) derives an albedo of 0.078, and calculates a diameter of 36.1 kilometers.