The star is a yellow dwarf star. It is about the same size as our sun. It is about 4.6 billion years old.
The star was discovered in the early 19th century by the French astronomer Charles Messier. It was one of the first stars to be identified as a variable star, and it is still one of the best-known variable stars in the sky. The star varies in brightness by about a factor of two over a period of about two months.
