It was discovered on 26 September 1973, by astronomer Eleanor Helin at the Palomar Observatory in California, United States.
[2] Jimarnold is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population.
Arnold's cosmochemical research included the study of cosmic radiation, the origin of meteorites, for which he developed a computer model, the lunar soil and mapping of the Moon's composition.
[2] The official naming citation was proposed by the discoverer and Eugene Shoemaker, and published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 July 1979 (M.P.C.
[7] In 2013, Arnold's son proposed that the interrobang ‽ be used as a symbol for the asteroid, reflecting his father's curiosity and his "insistence upon working with the resulting reality.