Palomar 4 is a globular cluster

Globular cluster

A globular cluster is a spherical collection of stars that orbits a galactic core as a satellite. Globular clusters are very tightly bound by gravity, which gives them their spherical shapes and relatively high stellar densities toward their centers. The name of this category of star cluster is...

 of the Milky Way

Milky Way

The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...

 galaxy

Galaxy

A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...

. It was discovered in 1949 by Edwin Hubble

Edwin Hubble

Edwin Powell Hubble was an American astronomer who profoundly changed the understanding of the universe by confirming the existence of galaxies other than the Milky Way - our own galaxy...

 and again in 1955 by A. G. Wilson. It is 356,000 light years away.

This star cluster is further away than the Magellanic Clouds

Magellanic Clouds

The two Magellanic Clouds are irregular dwarf galaxies visible in the southern hemisphere, which are members of our Local Group and are orbiting our Milky Way galaxy...

 and SagDEG satellite galaxies.

Initially it was thought to be a dwarf galaxy

Dwarf galaxy

A dwarf galaxy is a small galaxy composed of up to several billion stars, a small number compared to our own Milky Way's 200-400 billion stars...

, and it was given the name Ursa Major Dwarf. However, it was later discovered to be a globular cluster.