NGC 5846 is a giant elliptical galaxy. It has a low luminosity active galactic nucleus. 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 of 100 million solar masses. NGC 5846 harbors a large number of globular clusters; over 1,200 have been detected in images by Hubble Space Telescope.

The barred spiral galaxy NGC 5850 lies at a projected distance of 10 arcminutes from NGC 5846 and may form an interacting pair with NGC 5846 based on its disturbed morphology. It is suggested that the two galaxies had a high speed encounter approximately 200 million years ago.