In the Webb Society Deep-Sky Observer's Handbook,[6] the visual appearance of NGC 147 is described as follows: Large, quite faint, irregularly round; it brightens in the middle to a stellar nucleus.

The membership of NGC 147 in the Local Group was confirmed by Walter Baade in 1944 when he was able to resolve the galaxy into individual stars with the 100-inch (2.5 m) telescope at Mount Wilson near Los Angeles.

[7] NGC 147 contains a large population of older stars which show a spread in metallicity and age.

However, H I has not been observed and the interstellar medium (ISM) mass upper limit is much lower than expected had the material which is emitted from evolving stars been kept in the galaxy.

[2] However, NGC 147 is close enough that the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) method may be used to estimate its distance.