[15] On the Tholen taxonomic scheme, as well as by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Cora is classified as a metallic M-type asteroid.
[8][13] Mineralogic observations in the near-infrared with the NASA IRTF telescope using its SpeX spectrograph, showed that its surface is that of an X-type asteroid, with absorption features indicating the presence of pyroxene minerals.
[16] Several rotational lightcurves of Cora were obtained for this asteroid by astronomers Maria A. Barucci, David Higgins, Axel Martin, and the Palomar Transient Factory.
[11][10] Among these, David Higgins' observation made in September 2010, at the Hunters Hill Observatory (E14) in Ngunnawal, Australia – gave the best rated lightcurve with a period of 7.588±0.003 hours and a brightness variation of 0.20 magnitude (U=3-).
[3][5][6][7][8] In contrast, the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives a much lower albedo of 0.19 and a diameter of 29.1 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 10.1.