[2] Gagarin orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.3–2.8 AU once every 4.02 years (1,467 days).

[9] Photometric observations at the Californian Palomar Transient Factory in December 2011, gave a 10.9430 hours with an amplitude of 0.41 (U=2).

[8] in 2001 and 2016, additional lightcurve were obtained from modeled photometric data, giving a period of 10.94130 and 10.93791 hours (U=n.a.).

[6][7] According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Gagarin measures between 8.83 and 9.63 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.138 and 0.164,[4][5] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo of 0.20 and derives a diameter of 8.00 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 12.85.

[3] This minor planet was named for Russian–Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968), Hero of the Soviet Union and first human to journey into outer space by circumnavigating Earth in 1961.