M49

This article exists in an "Observation State," meaning it exists solely within the narrative backdrop of its respective setting.

Messier 49 is a supermassive elliptical galaxy located in the Virgo B subcluster of the Virgo Cluster, 49.63 million light-years from the Milky Way galaxy. Around 49 million years ago, it was home to a powerful civilization of at least K3.1 scale referred to by observers as the Chi'zar Eternal Empire due to its continued visible presence across a great number of observational timescales. It is unknown whether the Eternal Empire exists today, or what replaced it if it does not.

Overview

The Chi'zar Eternal Empire, named for a powerful figure in the history of the Nok'Chu-Raa, would be among the most powerful empires in the Borealis Cluster were it to exist there in the present day. Assuming that the density of life in M49 is similar to that of more local galaxies, their territory likely includes the homeworlds of much more than one species. Pessimists conclude that these species are either subjugated or extinct, but it is impossible to know without much more powerful telescopic instrumentation, and the "Eternal Empire" could very well be some sort of galactic federation akin to the United Federation of Star Systems. The absence of signs of stellar engineering from the outer galaxy like increases in infrared emissions caused by dyson swarms implies that the Eternal Empire has not yet (from our perspective) reached this region of the galaxy. Observations of this unique civilization are ongoing.

In this time period, the galaxy was also interacting with the dwarf irregular UGC 7636, which is surrounded by a stream of stars 30 kpc in length torn away from it by galactic tidal forces. The supernova recorded in Earth's archival data as SN 1969Q is believed to have been caused by Chi'zar engineering. The galaxy also contains an active galactic nucleus surrounding a black hole 565 million solar masses, likely also engineered by the Chi'zar Eternal Empire as a high-level power generation device.

The outer reaches of the galaxy are surrounded by at least 5,900 globular clusters, far more than any galaxy within the Borealis Cluster. It was the first member of the Virgo Cluster to be discovered, as it is more luminous than any other galaxy closer to us than itself.