2 euro 2009. Vatican. Year of Astronomy

The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) is a year-long celebration of astronomy, taking place in 2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler’s Astronomia nova in the 17th century.

The coin depicts an allegory of the birth of the stars and planets together with several astronomical instruments.