[10] It and the angularly nearby elliptical galaxy Messier 60 were both discovered by Johann Gottfried Koehler in April 1779 when observing comet seeming close by.

The main elliptical component appears to be superimposed upon a flatter, disk-like feature, with the entirety embedded within a circular halo.

The luminosity contribution of the components is 62% for the pure elliptical part, 22% for the halo, and the remainder coming from the disk.

The light ratio of the disk to the main elliptical body is 0.25, whereas it is typically closer to 0.5 in a lenticular galaxy.

[14] The nucleus contains an embedded stellar disk that is bluer (younger) than the bulge region, with a blue component stretching along a position angle of around 150°.