A spectacular collision between galaxies that looks like a firework display has been spotted near the Milky Way.

Scientists from the University of Manchester and the University of Hong Kong discovered the so-called “bull’s-eye’ collision between two small star system 30 million light years away from Earth – the closest such system ever found.

The reservoirs of gas in each galaxy have been compressed by shockwaves from the collision, triggering the formation of new stars and creating a sight like a Catherine wheel on bonfire night.

These crashes are very rare but this one has been discovered by a team of astronomers led by Professor Quentin Parker and Professor Albert Zijlstra, with their results published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

(University of Manchester)

Professor Zijlstra, who has name it “Kathryn’s Wheel” after his wife Kathryn, said: “This is a very exciting find because it will allow astronomers to study how collisions cause star formation, how long the collision takes, and what types of stars form.

“It is not often that you get to name any objects in the sky. But I think Kathryn’s Wheel is particularly fitting, resembling as it does a firework and continuing the tradition of naming objects after loved ones.”

Kathryn’s Wheel was discovered during a special wide field survey of the Southern Milky Way undertaken with the UK Schmidt Telescope in Australia.

Professor Parker said: “Not only is this system visually stunning, but it’s close enough to be an ideal target for detailed study. The ring is also quite low in mass – a few thousand million Suns or less than 1% of the Milky Way – so our discovery shows that collision rings can form around much smaller galaxies than we thought.”