[7] M63 was first discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain, then later verified by his colleague Charles Messier on 14 June 1779.

[8] The shape or morphology of this galaxy has a classification of SAbc,[5] indicating a spiral form with no central bar feature (SA) and moderate to loosely wound arms (bc).

There is a general lack of large-scale continuous spiral structure in visible light, so it is considered a flocculent galaxy.

The latter is extended along a position angle of 110° relative to the north celestial pole, and both soft X-rays and hydrogen (H-alpha) emission can be observed coming from along nearly the same direction.

This gas shows a symmetrical form that is warped in a pronounced manner, starting at a radius of 33,000 light-years (10 kiloparsecs).