Around 50 million years ago, a blue dwarf galaxy shot through the center of an enormous galaxy more than twice the size of the Milky Way, called LEDA 1313424. Now, astronomers have revealed the spectacular result of this record-breaking collision: nine starry rings,

Just like fingerprints and snowflakes, no two galaxies in the entire Universe are exactly alike. But a new discovery 567 million light-years away really is jaw-droppingly unique. There, astronomers have found a galaxy girdled by,

(CNN) – A new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope shows what is nicknamed “The Bullseye.” Its real name is Gargantuan Galaxy Leda 1313424. The galaxy has star-filled rings from a blue dwarf galaxy that went through it. Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists now believe “The Bullseye” has nine rings.

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured this striking image of an unusual galaxy with a bullseye structure, as nine rings surround its central point. Technically known as LEDA 1313424, the galaxy has more rings than any other known galaxy, and studying it is helping astronomers to learn how galaxies like this are created.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope had captured a ringed galaxy (LEDA 1313424) that not only heavily resembles a bullseye, but with nine (perhaps more) rings

Imad Pasha, the lead researcher and a doctoral student at Yale University called it a "serendipitous discovery" because it has the most number of rings than any spiral galaxy found to date. While Hubble discovered eight rings of the galaxy, the ninth one was confirmed through observations using Hawaii-based Keck observatory.

The Bullseye galaxy earned its nickname thanks to its wild number of rings. A smaller galaxy shot through its heart 50 million years ago to help create a cosmic wonder.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a cosmic bullseye. The gargantuan galaxy LEDA 1313424 is rippling with nine star-filled rings after an "arrow"—a far smaller blue dwarf galaxy—shot through its heart.

But Hubble is a veteran at imaging galaxies, and the recent image reveals more rings around the Bullseye than previously known. The Bullseye is now confirmed to have nine rings, eight of which are visible to Hubble.