The asteroid was discovered on 2 December 1999, by Italian–American astronomer Paul Comba at the Prescott Observatory in Arizona, United States.
[3] In September 2013, a rotational lightcurve of Cappi was obtained from photometric observation taken in the R-band at the Palomar Transient Factory in California.
It showed a rotation period of 5.9389 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.78 magnitude (U=2), indicating a non-spheroidal shape.
[3] This minor planet was named after Margaret Capitola Sonntag Comba (born 1940), a psychologist and art therapist by profession, faculty member at Prescott College, and wife of the discoverer.
[7] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 4 May 2004 (M.P.C.