It was discovered on 5 September 1935, by Russian astronomer Pelageya Shajn at Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula.

[12] Two weeks later, it was independently discovered by Cyril Jackson at Johannesburg Observatory, South Africa.

[2] Shajna orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.8–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,221 days).

[10] Two modeled lightcurves from various surveys including the Lowell photometric database gave similar periods of 6.41368 and 6.41369 hours (U=n.a.).

[8][9] Photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory in September 2012, gave nearly identical periods of 6.4140 and 6.4248 hours in the R- and S-band, respectively (U=2/2).