If the theory is correct, the cosmic rings may be the first real-world evidence that our current universe is just the latest in an endless string of recycled universes, the study authors say. (Related: "Universe Reborn Endlessly in New Model of the Cosmos.")

Astronomers found the circular patterns in a new analysis of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), which is the radiation left over from the big bang that now permeates the universe.

Within the newly described rings, many of which are nested like ripples in a pond, the temperature is more uniform than elsewhere in the CMB sky. (See