The inner part depicts an allegory of the birth of the stars and planets together with several astronomical instruments. The design is inspired by Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. The mint mark R is situated in the bottom left quadrant and the year mark 2009 is at the bottom. The design is surrounded on the bottom left-hand side by the legend International Year of Astronomy and on the top right-hand side by the name of the issuing country Vatican City. The twelve stars of the European Union surround the design on the outer ring of the coin.

Artist: Orietta Rossi
Engraver: Maria Carmela Colaneri (M.C.C. INC.)
INC. is the Italian abbreviation for the engraver

A geographical map of Western Europe spans the outer ring and inner core on the right side of the coin. The inscription 2 EURO is superimposed over the map of Europe, with the numeral “2” located in an open field representing the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

12 stars are located on the right side of the outer ring, with six stars atop the map of Europe and six stars below it; six vertical stripes cut across the inner core of the coin, visually connecting the upper and lower star segments.

Luc Luycx, a designer at the Royal Belgian Mint, designed the Euro’s common reverse; his initials, LL, are seen on the right side of the design, just under the “O” in “EURO.”

The sequence "2 ★" repeated six times alternately upright and inverted