Messier 49 has the radio emission of a normal galaxy. However, the core of the galaxy is emitting X-rays, which suggests the presence of a supermassive black hole of , or 565 million times the mass of the Sun. To the southwest of the core, the luminous outline of the galaxy can be traced out to a distance of 260 thousand parsecs. The only supernova event observed within this galaxy is SN 1969Q, discovered in June 1969.