It was discovered by Walter Baade in 1950, and independently found again by Albert George Wilson in 1955.

After the initial name of Serpens, it was subsequently catalogued as Palomar 5.

There is a process of disruption acting on this cluster because of the gravitation of the Milky Way – in fact there are many stars leaving this cluster in the form of a stellar stream.

[6] The cluster is currently 60.6 kly (18.6 kpc) from the Galactic Center.

It shows a noticeable amount of flattening, with an aspect ratio of 0.62 ± 0.23 between its semimajor axis and semiminor axis.