It was discovered by French astronomer Hermann Goldschmidt on 9 September 1860, from his balcony in Paris, France.

[17] Goldschmidt was ill when asked to name the asteroid, and requested his fellow asteroid-hunter Robert Luther to name it instead.

Luther chose to name it after Danaë, the mother of Perseus in Greek mythology.

The asteroid is orbiting the Sun with a period of 5.15 years and is rotating on its axis once every 11.45 hours.

In 1985, a study of lightcurve data suggested that Danaë may have a moon.