Watts is a member of the Flora family, a large group of stony S-type asteroids in the inner main-belt.
Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.5060 hours with a low brightness amplitude of 0.06 magnitude, indicating that the body has a spheroidal shape (U=n.a.).
[a] During the photometric observations, a minor-planet moon was discovered, making Watts a binary asteroid.
[4][a] This minor planet was named in honour of American astronomer Chester Burleigh Watts (1889–1971), a graduate of Indiana University.
He worked at the United States Naval Observatory for 44 years, making distinguished contributions in the field of positional astronomy and pioneered in the field of automation of transit circle observations, which led to results of the highest systematic accuracy.