It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and in his then keynote work re-discovered by Charles Messier on 1771.

There is no cluster in the position indicated by Messier, which he expressed in terms of its right ascension and declination with respect to the star 2 Puppis.

[4] Until this equivalency was found, M47 was considered a lost Messier Object.

This identification as the same thing (ad idem) only came in 1959 with a realization by Canadian astronomer T. F.

The member stars have been measured down to about red dwarfs at apparent magnitude 19.