It has a low luminosity active galactic nucleus, whose categorisation is ambiguous, having features that are observed both in LINER and HII regions.

[6] The source of nuclear activity in galaxies is suggested to be a supermassive black hole that accretes material.

NGC 5846 harbors a supermassive black hole with estimated mass (1.1±0.1)×109 M☉ based on the central velocity dispersion.

[7][8] NGC 5846 harbors a large number of globular clusters; over 1,200 have been detected in images by Hubble Space Telescope.

Two inner bubbles in the hot gas, at a distance of 600 pc from the center and filled with radio emission, are clear indications of recent AGN feedback.

The scenario indicated by the Chandra observation is that of an AGN outflow, compressing and cooling the gas[14] in the central ~2 kpc (20" at the distance of NGC 5846).

[18] Recent Herschel PACS observations have detected the presence of [C ii]-emitting gas that extends to a radius of ~2 kpc and is centrally peaked.

[15] All of this evidence suggests that the [C ii] line is emitted by the warm gas, and it is not necessarily tracing the molecular phase.

Clouds 1 and 3 are resolved in at least one direction by ALMA 12 m array observations and extend to 1"2 and 2"9, respectively, and are about 5"5 and 8"4 away (0.6 and 1.0 kpc) from the galaxy center, respectively.