It bears a similarity to M33, being about 50,000 light years in diameter and containing numerous star-forming H II regions.

This H II region represents striking similarity with NGC 604 in M33, both in size and location in galaxy.

It is currently being disrupted by NGC 2403, as evidenced by a tidal stream extending 82 kly (25 kpc) on both sides of DDO 44.

The name refers to the MADCASH (Magellanic Analog Dwarf Companions and Stellar Halos) project.

MADCASH-1 is similar to typical dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the Local Group; it is quite faint, with an absolute V-band magnitude of −7.81, and has only an ancient, metal-poor population of red giant stars.