[4] The high albedo derived from the WISE-observations indicate that Sharp belongs to the collisional Hungaria asteroids (rather than just its orbital group), which is thought to have originated from the same parent body that shattered into fragments in an ancient asteroid collision.
The high albedo is due to the magnesium-rich mineral enstatite, which led to the E-type in the asteroid spectral type taxonomy.
[5] A first rotational lightcurve of Sharp was obtained in November 2011, from photometric observations by American astronomer Brian Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory (716) in Colorado (U=2).
The European collaboration was required because the satellite's orbital period was expected to be almost exactly an Earth day, and therefore synchronous with Earth, which would have made it impossible to obtain photometric data points covering the entire lightcurve from just one single location.
Mount Sharp rises from the middle of Gale Crater, which is explored by the Mars Curiosity rover since 2012.