JHK composite colour image of the central 12 pc × 9 pc of W49. North is up, and east is to the left. The red, green, and blue channels are mapped to the K, H, and J, respectively. The J and H-band images are from NTT/SOFI, and the K-band image is from LBT/LUCI. The spectroscopically identified OB-type stars are marked by yellow squares. Two young stellar objects are marked with cyan circles. Two radio sources (W49 South and CC, also associated with subclusters) are labelled in white.