[3][6] Discovered by James Dunlop in 1826, it has been described by John Herschel as "a most superbly rich and large cluster" and by Stephen James O'Meara as "one of the sky's most stunning open star clusters".

Its period is only 3.5 days compared with the longer period of V340 Normae, indicating it is intrinsically less luminous (and hence closer), and its age has been estimated at 134 million years and hence too old to belong to the cluster.

[11] V340 Normae is a yellow supergiant of spectral type G0Ib that varies between magnitudes 8.26 and 8.60 over 11.28 days,[12] while the fainter QZ Normae varies between magnitudes 8.71 and 9.03 over 3.79 days.

[13] It is also home to one of only a few planetary nebulae associated with galactic clusters (open or globular).

The cluster, named BMP J1613-5406, originated from a progenitor star that is notably massive.