Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts, which has appeared in semi-annual volumes since 1969, is devoted to the recording, summarizing and indexing of astronomical publications throughout the world. According to a resolution adopted at the 14th General Assembly in 1970 it is prepared under the aus- pices of the International Astronomical Union. Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts aims to present a comprehensive doc- umentation in all fields of astronomy and astrophysics. It is due to the ever- lasting increase of the bulk of material that the information content of our regular volumes is growing seriously. Therefore, the need for detailed index informations allowing the performance of retrospective literature searches be- comes more and more important. Volume 23/24-the second General Index of Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts - contains author and subject indexes to volumes II -14 and, respectively, 17-22. Thus, the astronomical and astrophysical literature of the whole five-year period 197 4 -1978 is cov- ered by this volume. It is a pleasure to express our gratitude to Ms. Helga Ballmann, Ms. Monika Betz, Mr. Gernot Burkhardt, Ms. Lore Kiefert, Ms. Dagmar Roeder, Ms.Dimitra Roussou, and Mr. Werner Sanns for their kind support during the detailed preparation steps of the indexes.
