It was discovered by J. R. Hind on 15 December 1852, at the private observatory of W. Bishop, located in Hyde Park, London, England.

[5] Bishop named it after Thalia, the Muse of comedy and pastoral poetry in Greek mythology.

[6] It is categorized as an S-type asteroid consisting of mainly of iron- and magnesium-silicates.

Based on analysis of the light curve, the object has a sidereal rotation period of 0.513202 ± 0.000002 days.

[7] With a semimajor axis of 2.628, the asteroid is orbiting between the 3:1 and 5:2 Kirkwood gaps in the main belt.