[1] Nurmela is an assumed carbonaceous C-type asteroid,[4] while its albedo and membership to the Baptistina family is indicative for an X-type.
[15]: 23 In March and April 2007, two rotational lightcurves of Nurmela was obtained from photometric observations by Adrián Galád and Robert Stephens.
They gave an identical rotation period of 3.1587 hours with a brightness variation of 0.33 and 0.42 magnitude, respectively (U=3/3).
[13][12] In April 2017, another observation by Stephens gave a concurring period of 3.159 hours (U=3) with an amplitude of 0.58 magnitude, indicative for an elongated shape.
[4] This minor planet was named in honor of Finnish academician Tauno Kalervo Nurmela (1907–1985), some time professor of Romanic philology and later chancellor of University of Turku.