[2] Baetslé is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of rather bright and stony asteroids, and orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,262 days).
[a] Two observations by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, IRAS, showed an absolute magnitude of 13.40 and a low geometric albedo of 0.03.
[3] While the size, rotational period and orbital data are commonly found among main-belt asteroids, the albedo was exceptionally low and suggested that the body's composition could be mostly carbonaceous.
However, subsequent observations by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer's NEOWISE mission gave a higher albedo of 0.22 and 0.30 and the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives a value of 0.33, assuming the body to be of a stony rather than of a carbonaceous composition.
[3] This minor planet was named in memory of Belgian astronomer Paul-Louis Baetslé (1909–1983), professor at the Brussels Royal Military School and a friend of Sylvain Arend.