Hubble spies shells of sparkling stars around quasar

These sharp images taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveal at least five shells of stars surrounding a brilliant quasar at the heart of a giant elliptical galaxy. The image at left shows the quasar, known as MC2 1635+119, and its host galaxy [center] against a backdrop of distant galaxies. In the image at top, right, the shells can barely be seen because of the bright light from the central quasar. The image at bottom, right was enhanced to reveal details of the faint shells. In both right-hand images, the objects below and to the left of the shells are background galaxies. A foreground star resides at top, left. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Canalizo (UC Riverside)