[7] The galaxy's low surface brightness makes it the most difficult Messier object for amateur astronomers to observe.

[13] The latter was bright as 10th magnitude when viewed from the surface of Earth, so visible from almost all modern telescopes in a good night sky.

[13] SN 2002ap was one of few Type Ic supernovae (which denotes hypernovae) recorded within 10 Mpc every century.

[3] Ben Sugerman found a "light echo" – a later reflection of the explosion – associated with SN 2003gd.

[20] Later analysis argued that it was consistent with known examples of giant LBV eruptions and SN 2008S-like objects.

Such an object is believed to form from lesser ("stellar") black holes within a star cluster.

[9] [8] This galaxy may be best viewed under low magnification; when highly magnified, the diffuse emission becomes more extended and appears too faint to be seen by many people.

[9] Additionally, M74 may be more easily seen when using averted vision when the eyes are fully dark adapted.