[2][5] The cluster was discovered on 9 November 1787 by German-born English astronomer William Herschel.

[6] It is located in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way,[7] at a distance of approximately 7,045 light years from the Sun.

[2] This is a young cluster with an estimated age of 5–15 million years.

[3] It has a Trumpler class of I2m, indicating it is strongly concentrated (I) with an intermediate range of brightness variation (2) and a moderate richness of stars (m).

[7] The distribution of the cluster's stars on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram shows a noticeable gap on the main sequence, which is not explained by missing data.