Approximately 359 million light-years from Earth is a very unique galaxy with a never-before-seen design.

Named PGC 1000714, or “Burcin’s Galaxy” after the research paper’s lead author, Burcin Mutlu-Pakdil, it is a ring galaxy with a circle of young stars surrounding an older galactic core Burcin’s Galaxy. While ring galaxies aren’t new, Burcin’s Galaxy stands out because it doesn’t have just one star ring surrounding its core – but two.

This second ring of stars is an “older diffuse red inner ring” inside the outer ring of younger blue stars, according to study co-author Patrick Treuthardt, an astrophysicist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Scientists speculate that this double ring may have been caused by formations in two different time periods or by the galaxy absorbing material from a nearby galaxy. More data is needed to determine the age of the second ring.

Single-ring galaxies are very rare in themselves, estimated to account for about 0.1 percent of galaxies. The most well-known ring galaxy is Hoag’s Object, which was discovered by Arthur Hoag in 1950. These galaxies are often nicknamed Hoag-type galaxies. Many theorize they form when two galaxies collide, disrupting the spiral arm structure. The collision leaves behind a ring of gas, dust and stars, which continues to spread out over time.

“Whenever we find a unique or strange object to study, it challenges our current theories and assumptions about how the universe works,” Treuthardt said. “It usually tells us that we still have a lot to learn.”

While ring galaxies are quite unusual, most galaxies fall into three other main categories: elliptical, spiral and irregular. Elliptical galaxies are shaped like an elongated sphere, look flat from our Earth-bound vantage point and appear brighter towards their center. Irregular galaxies don’t have a distinct symmetrical or regular structure.

The most common type of galaxy is the spiral. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, falls under this designation. The spherical object at the center of spirals is known as the bulge and consists of dust, gas and younger stars. The arm-like structures are collectively called the disk while the halo is the spherical structure surrounding the bulge made of clusters of older stars.

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