A space telescope has captured expanding fiery rings of glowing dust from a newly discovered head-on collision of two galaxies that happened 210 million years ago, astronomers say.

New images of the Andromeda galaxy, the giant galaxy next to the Milky Way, were captured by an infrared camera aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope and are described in the latest edition of the science journal Nature.

This image provided by NASA of an infrared photograph taken with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals a never-before-seen dust ring deep within the Andromeda galaxy (near center of the image).
This image provided by NASA of an infrared photograph taken with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals a never-before-seen dust ring deep within the Andromeda galaxy (near center of the image).
(NASA/AP)
The discovery offers a vivid glimpse into how galaxies change and may offer new clues on the origins of the universe, scientists involved with the project said.

A computer model took the images from the telescope and depicted how a small galaxy hit the centre of Andromeda with such force that it fired off new stars, space dust and two flaming red rings.

Astronomers said the rings had a ripple effect similar to a stone dropped in water and continuing to spread at a rate of 50 kilometres a second.

The Andromeda galaxy is easily visible to the naked eye in a moderately dark sky.