The ARI has a rich history.[1] It was founded in 1700 in Berlin-Dahlem by Gottfried Kirch. It had its origin in a patent application by Frederick I of Prussia, who introduced a monopoly on publishing star catalogs in Prussia. In 1945 the Institute was moved by the Americans nearer to the United States Army Garrison Heidelberg. On January 1, 2005 the combined Center for Astronomy institute formed by combining ARI, with the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics (Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, ITA) and the Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl ("Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory", LSW).
The ARI has been responsible among other things for the Gliese catalog of nearby stars, the fundamental catalogs FK5 and FK6, and the annually-published "Apparent Places of Fundamental Stars" (APFS),[2] stellar ephemerides that provide high-precision mean and apparent positions of over three thousand stars for each day.
During 1938–1945, whilst based in Berlin, ARI published the academic journal Astronomical Notes (German: Astronomische Nachrichten).
As of 2016[update], ARI was not limited to only publishing star catalogs, but has a wider research scope, including gravitational lensing, galaxy evolution, stellar dynamics, and cosmology. ARI is also involved in space astronomy missions including the Gaia mission.
In 2007 professors Eva K. Grebel and Joachim Wambsganß (de) became co-directors of the institute.
Other researchers involved with the institute include Hartmut Jahreiß author of the updated Gliese Catalogue of Nearby Stars; Eugene Rabe; Lutz D. Schmadel, author of the Dictionary of Minor Planet Names; Hans Scholl; and Rainer Spurzem working with N-body simulations.
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