2009 Stargazing the Southern Skies PNC. In 2009 we celebrate the International Year of Astronomy, which recognises the achievements of astronomy and astrophysics, and encourages us all to connect with the night skies and ponder our place in the universe. 2009 also marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo's birth, the great Italian telescope maker whose invention brought into focus Copernicus' revolutionary theory that the sun, rather than the Earth, lies at the centre of the universe. This stamp issue celebrates not only the sciences of the cosmos, but the beauty of the heavens and the remarkable photographic art that reveals this. Issued by the Perth Mint and Australia Post.