It was discovered on 15 September 1900, by German astronomers Max Wolf and Friedrich Schwassmann at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany.
[6] The C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.6–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 5 months (1,987 days).
[4] In 2014, photometric light-curve observations at the Los Algarrobos Observatory (OLASU, I38), Uruguay, has given a rotation period of 21.953±0.001 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.20 in magnitude.
[5] The minor planet was named by Max Wolf in honor and gratitude of U.S. optician John Brashear at Allegheny in Pennsylvania, who equipped Wolf's new telescope with state of the art optics (lenses for the 16-inch photographic doublet).
[3] The minor planet 5502 Brashear was later directly named after the famous American astronomer and instrument builder.