[12][13] M64 is well known among amateur astronomers due to its form in small telescopes and visibility across inhabited latitudes.

[7] The morphological classification in the De Vaucouleurs system is (R)SA(rs)ab,[4] where the '(R)' indicates an outer ring-like structure, 'SA' denotes a non-barred spiral, '(rs)' means a transitional inner ring/spiral structure, and 'ab' says the spiral arms are fairly tightly wound.

[14] Ann et al. (2015) gave it a class of SABa,[15] suggesting a weakly barred spiral galaxy with tightly wound arms.

[9] The interstellar medium of Messier 64 consists of two counter-rotating disks that are approximately equal in mass.

[20] Possible formation scenarios include a merger with a gas-rich satellite galaxy in a retrograde orbit, or the continued accretion of gas clouds from the intergalactic medium.