2021 The Earth & Beyond - The Milky Way $5 Silver Proof Domed Coin

This stunning silver proof coin showcases the majesty of our galaxy - the Milky Way. Featuring a unique dome shape and cosmic colour print with limited mintage; they’ll be as rare as a meteor shower or blue moon. Coin collectors and space enthusiasts will delight in the Royal Australian Mint’s follow up to the Earth and Beyond series.

Planet earth, surrounding planets and the sun are located in a galaxy known as the Milky Way.

NASA estimates the Milky Way is home to about 100 billion stars and that it takes 250 million years for the sun to go all the way around the middle of the galaxy.

From earth the Milky Way looks flat but if there was a way to see it from above it would look like a giant spiral, spanning about 200,000 light years. In 2013 UK scientists found the Milky Way has four arms not two.
In 1610, Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei studied the Milky Way through his rudimentary telescope and was the first to observe it consisted of individual stars.