Named for the astronomical bibliography Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts. Founded in 1969, the AAA present a comprehensive documentation of all aspects of astronomy, astrophysics and related fields. The AAA are prepared under the auspices of the IAU by a special department of the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Heidelberg. The department, headed by Lutz D. Schmadel {see planet  (2234)} for the last 20 years, has recorded, abstracted and indexed more than 500,000 documents. AAA is the direct successor of the Astronomischer Jahresbericht, which was founded in 1900. The AAA already amount to more than 60 volumes, occupying more than 3 meters of shelf space. (M 27331) _ _.