It was discovered on 20 October 1941, by Hungarian astronomer György Kulin at the Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, Hungary.
[2] The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.7–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,292 days).
[7] In October 2001 and October 2008, two rotational light-curves of Gothard were obtained by French amateur astronomers Laurent Bernasconi and René Roy, giving a concurring rotation period of 4.94 hours with a brightness variation of 0.31 and 0.32 in magnitude, respectively (U=3/3-).
[6] According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Gothard measures 9.84 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.087,[4][5] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 5.66 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.6.
[3] This minor planet was named in memory of Hungarian amateur astronomer Jenő Gothard (1857–1909), who discovered the central star in the Ring Nebula (M57).