Messier 49 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo around 56 million light-years from Earth and was the first member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies to be discovered. The galaxy appears very yellow, indicating the 200 billion stars in it are mostly older than the Sun, suggesting the last star formation in M49 took place about 6 billion years ago. X-ray studies indicate the presence of a supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy. Charles Messier, the 18th century French astronomer, catalogued over 100 galaxies and clusters. Through the telescopes available at the time, comets, nebulae, globular clusters and galaxies appeared just as faint, diffuse blobs. This image was taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.