[2] Originally, the asteroid was named "Elsbeth" – the Austrian variant of "Elisabeth" – and only later changed into a more lyrical "Elsa" with the consent of the discoverer, Johann Palisa.

[citation needed] It may also refer to the Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1854–1898), or to a relative of Admiral Bourgignon, who requested the naming, as he was the military superior of the discoverer at the Naval Observatory at Pola.

[13] In 2008, a collaborative effort from three different sites under the lead of Frederick Pilcher was used to build a complete lightcurve for the asteroid, which showed a period of 80.088±0.002 hours with a brightness variation of 0.30±0.03 in magnitude.

[11] Other period determinations gave similar results between 80.166 and 80.23 hours with an outlier by the Palomar Transient Factory.

It was one of five minor planets included in the 1993 study, Transition Comets -- UV Search for OH Emissions in Asteroids, which was research involving amateur astronomers who were permitted to make use of the Hubble Space Telescope.