It was discovered by German astronomer Robert Luther on March 15, 1863,[6] and named after Diana, Roman goddess of the hunt.

The asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.620 AU with a period of 4.24 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.207.

Photometric observations of this asteroid during 1986 and 2006–08 gave a light curve with a rotation period of 7.2991 hours and a brightness variation in the range 0.02–0.104 magnitude.

A diameter of 116 km was measured, closely matching the value given by the IRAS satellite.

Diana is expected to pass about 0.003 AU (450,000 km; 280,000 mi) from (29075) 1950 DA on August 5, 2150.