It was discovered on 15 August 1952, by Russian astronomer Pelageya Shajn at Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula.

[7] The asteroid has a exceptionally long rotation period of 136.4 hours and measures approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) in diameter.

[2] Kukarkin orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.0–3.9 AU once every 5.03 years (1,838 days).

Kukarkin started and edited the General Catalogue of Variable Stars that was first published in 1948.

[8] Kukarkin is a slow rotator, with a long period of 136.40±0.03 hours, measured at Los Algarrobos Observatory, Uruguay (I38) during a favorable opposition in 2012.