Galaxies frequently collide with each other, and the results can be spectacular. The encounters can pull out giant ribbons of stars. They can trigger intense bouts of starbirth. And they can scramble a galaxy’s stars and gas clouds, creating beautiful rings that look like cosmic bulls-eyes.

One well-known galaxy that’s experienced a head-on collision is the Cartwheel. It’s about 500 million light-years away, in the constellation Sculptor, which is low in the south on November evenings.

The Cartwheel is a good bit bigger than the Milky Way. It has a bright inner ring of mainly older stars that’s offset a little from the galaxy’s middle. A brighter ring of younger, bluer stars is far outside it. Wispy spiral arms that look like the spokes of a wagon wheel connect the rings, giving the “Cartwheel” its name.

The Cartwheel probably started as a normal spiral galaxy. But a few hundred million years ago, a smaller galaxy plunged through it. The collision created a wave that rippled outward, like a rock thrown into a still pond. The wave disrupted the original spiral structure. It also squeezed clouds of gas and dust, causing them to give birth to new stars.

And the drama isn’t over. Many more stars are being born in the outer ring, in giant nurseries that look like a strand of lights on a Christmas wreath. They will continue to make the Cartwheel shine brightly as it spins through the universe.

Script by Damond Benningfield