It was discovered by the French scientist Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan some time before 1731,[3] then catalogued by Charles Messier in 1769.

The main component is a blue-white hued B-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of B0.5V or B1V.

It is radiating over 26,000 times the Sun's luminosity (L☉) from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 31,000 K. It is spinning rapidly with a projected rotational velocity of around 200 km/s.

The net (meaning omitting the star) hydrogen alpha luminosity of this region is (3.0±1.1)×1035 erg s−1; equivalent to 78 L☉.

All of these resemble a mixture of smoke rising from a chimney and in watercolour broad and fine dark brushstrokes, at many wavelengths.