 This spectral type translates into the X-type in more modern asteroid taxonomic systems.In 2018 and 2019, a study using photometry from the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network and the South African Astronomical Observatory, grouped "Ara" into the X-type category based on the Bus–DeMeo classification.In June 1981, a rotational lightcurve of "Ara" was obtained from photometric observations by Alan Harris.