Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts, which has appeared in semi-annual volumes since 1969, is de voted to the recording, summarizing and indexing of astronomical publications throughout the world. It is prepared under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (according to a resolution adopted at the 14th General Assembly in 1970). Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts aims to present a comprehensive documentation of literature in all fields of astronomy and astrophysics. Every effort will be made to ensure that the average time interval between the date of receipt of the original literature and publication of the abstracts will not exceed eight months. This time interval is near to that achieved by monthly abstracting journals, com pared to which our system of accumulating abstracts for about six months offers the advantage of greater convenience for the user. Volume II contains literature published in 1974 and received before August IS, 1974; some older literature which was received late and which is not recorded in earlier volumes is also included. Begin ning with this volume some minor changes of our classification scheme have been made. We acknowledge with thanks contributions to this volume by Dr. J. BouSka, who surveyed journals and publications in the Czech language and supplied us with abstracts in English, and by the Common wealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (C.S.I.R.O.), Sydney, for providing titles and abstracts of papers on radio astronomy.

Published annually, Sky Guide Southern Africa is a practical resource for all stargazers, whether novice, amateur or professional. It highlights the cosmic events for each month of the upcoming year, including planetary movements, predicted eclipses and meteor showers. Star charts plot the evening sky for each season, facilitating the identification of stars and constellations. The guide contains a wealth of information about the Sun, Moon, planets, comets, meteors and bright stars, with photos, diagrams, charts and images. Sales points: Contains the latest information and predictions. Includes tips on basic stargazing. Excellent value for money – packed with charts, illustrations and images. User-friendly diagrams for locating objects in the sky. Attractive astrophotography gallery.

StarGuides Plus represents the most comprehensive and accurately validated collection of practical data on organizations involved in astronomy, related space sciences and other related fields. This invaluable reference source (and its companion volume, StarBriefs Plus) should be on the reference shelf of every library, organization or individual with any interest in these areas. The coverage includes relevant universities, scientific committees, institutions, associations, societies, agencies, companies, bibliographic services, data centers, museums, dealers, distributors, funding organizations, journals, manufacturers, meteorological services, national norms & standard institutes, parent associations & societies, publishers, software producers & distributors, and so on. Besides astronomy and associated space sciences, related fields such as aeronautics, aeronomy, astronautics, atmospheric sciences, chemistry, communications, computer sciences, data processing, education, electronics, engineering, energetics, environment, geodesy, geophysics, information handling, management, mathematics, meteorology, optics, physics, remote sensing, and so on, are also covered where appropriate. After some thirty years in continuous compilation, verification and updating, StarGuides Plus currently gathers together some 6,000 entries from 100 countries. The information is presented in a clear, uncluttered manner for direct and easy use.

Anyone who doubts that astronomy is enjoying a golden age has only to browse the pages of Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy, Vol. 5. Our golden age is defined not only by the enormity of new discoveries of dark energy, dark matter, extra-solar planets, and the evolution of Mars, but also by the breadth, diversity, and creativity within our community. This volume records our history, in a period of such rapid change and growth that individual astronomers are hard-pressed to keep abreast of their own fields and neighborhoods, much less of developments world-wide. Since the 1950's, changes in the landscape of astronomy are manifold. We have witnessed two epochs of big telescope construction, the 4-meter class telescopes of the '60s and '70s and the 8-to lO-meter class telescopes of the '90s, continuing through today. We accomplished the transition from photographic to digital data, and we continue to improve the size and sen sitivity of astronomical detectors. We have witnessed the flowering of radio astronomy and the opening of the full electromagnetic spectrum through space astronomy. We have seen the growth of national and international astronomy facilities, and a dramatic broadening of the accessibility of data, both through observing facilities available through open competition based on scientific merit and through deep, rich archives of data.

Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts, which has appeared in semi-annual volumes since 1969, is de voted to the recording, summarizing and indexing of astronomical publications throughout the world. It is prepared under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (according to a resolution adopted at the 14th General Assembly in 1970). Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts aims to present a comprehensive documentation of literature in all fields of astronomy and astrophysics. Every effort will be made to ensure that the averagetime interval between the date of receipt of the original literature and publication ofthe abstracts will not exceed eight months. This time interval is near to that achieved by monthly abstracting journals, com pared to which our system of accumulating abstracts for about six months offers the advantage of greater convenience for the user. Volume 17 contains literature published in 1976 and received before August 15, 1976; some older literature which was received late and which is not recorded in earlier volumes is also included. We acknowledge with thanks contributions to this volume by Dr. J. Bouska, who surveyed journals and publications in the Czech languageand supplied us with abstracts in English,and by the Common wealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (C.S.I.R.O.), Sydney, for providing titles and abstracts of papers on radio astronomy. We want to acknowledge valuable contributions to this vol ume by Zentralstelle fur Atomkernenergie-Dokumentation, Leopoldshafen, which supported our ab stracting service by sending us retrospective literature searches.

From the reviews: "Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts has appeared in semi-annual volumes since 1969 and it has already become one of the fundemental publications in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics and neighbouring sciences. It is the most important English-language abstracting journal in the mentioned branches. ...The abstracts are classified under more than a hundred subject categories, thus permitting a quick survey of the whole extended material. The AAA is a valuable and important publication for all students and scientists working in the fields of astronomy and related sciences. As such it represents a necessary ingredient of any astronomical library all over the world." Space Science Review# "Dividing the whole field plus related subjects into 108 categories, each work is numbered and most are accompanied by brief abstracts. Fairly comprehensive cross-referencing links relevant papers to more than one category, and exhaustive author and subject indices are to be found at the back, making the catalogues easy to use. The series appears to be so complete in its coverage and always less than a year out of date that I shall certainly have to make a little more space on those shelves for future volumes." The Observatory Magazine#