It is named after Themis, the personification of natural law and divine order in Greek mythology.

24 Themis was discovered on 5 April 1853 by Annibale de Gasparis of Naples, though it was given its name by fellow Italian astronomer Angelo Secchi.

[9] On 24 December 1975, 24 Themis had a close encounter with 2296 Kugultinov with a minimum distance of 0.016 AU (2.4×10^6 km).

[12] On 7 October 2009, the presence of water ice was confirmed on the surface of this asteroid using NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility.

[15][16] Scientists hypothesize that some of the first water brought to Earth was delivered by asteroid impacts after the collision that produced the Moon.

Trace amounts of water would be continuously produced by high-energy solar protons impinging oxide minerals present at the surface of the asteroid.