We have obtained high resolution (R ≈ 220000) - high signal-to-noise (S/N > 500) spectra of 142 field dwarfs of spectral types F–K and v sin i ≤ 45 km s–1. Using the Fourier Transform Method (FTM) we precisely determined rotational velocities (Δ v sin i < 1.0 km s–1). For stars with v sin i ≥ 12.0 km s–1 this method allows the detection of deviations from solid body rotation. In the case of symmetric profiles the differential rotation parameter α = (ωequator – ωpole) / ωequator can be determined. This was possible for 32 of our sample stars; ten stars show evidence for solar-like differential rotation with α > 0.0. Thus it becomes possible to search for connections between differential rotation, rotational velocities and other stellar parameters. Signatures of differential rotation could be found on stars rotating as fast as v sin i = 42 km s–1. Particularly the Li-depleted stars turned out to show strong signatures of differential rotation. Our measurements support the idea, that Li-depletion in fast rotators (v sin i > 15 km s–1) is closely connected to differential rotation.

In order to ensure the quality of the source catalogue derived from the SASS processing an automatic as well as a visual screening procedure was applied to 1378 survey fields. Most (94%) of the 18,811 sources were confirmed by this screening process. The rest is flagged for various reasons. Broad band images are available for a subset of the flagged sources. Details of the screening process can be found at www.rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de/survey/rass-bsc/doc.html.

We have analyzed the ROSAT PSPC all-sky survey maps of the soft X-ray background (SXRB) in the ¾ keV band. One approach was to study the large-scale distribution of the X-ray emission with a multipole analysis. Here a significant dipole toward the galactic center region was found. This is interpreted in terms of variation of distant X-ray emission, e.g. galactic halo. Also a smallscale structure analysis of the ¾ keV X-ray sky has been performed and a new analytic fluctuation probability distribution has been derived. No significant excess over the expected extragalactic point source contribution has been found. Finally, X-ray colours have been used to investigate spectral variations of the SXRB.

During the EUVE sky survey of the Virgo region, a central source positionally coincident with the X-ray emitting galaxy M87, and a surrounding halo of extended emission, were detected in the 0.065–0.248 keV band. A detailed comparison of these data with the ROSAT PSPC data of M87 revealed an excess flux at energies < 0.4 keV within the central 30’ radius which cannot be associated with the well-known cluster gas at X-ray temperatures (kT ≥ a few keV). Instead, it is necessary to introduce a second gas component, of temperature T ~ 5 × 106K (kT ~ 0.1 keV). The resulting two-component model (warm + hot) can account for all the data. The origin and stability of the warm component, with a temperature near the peak of the thermal plasma cooling curve, is unclear. Both the temperature and spatial extent argue against cooling flow as the primary process responsible for its production. Other mechanisms, such as a galactic wind and heating by galaxy motions, must be considered.

Stellar coronae cannot be spatially resolved, and yet stellar coronae are likely to exhibit a similar amount of structure as the solar corona. Currently, the only way to infer structure from spatially unresolved data is to look for rotational modulation of the X-ray emission or eclipses in the case of binary systems. I will discuss some of the observations obtained and critically review the methods used to infer structure from these data. Particular emphasis will be placed on the ill-conditioned nature of the inversion problem, that makes it next to impossible to infer the possibly three-dimensional structure of stellar coronae.

An analysis of optical, radio and X-ray observations of the flare of December 31, 1991 on UV Ceti is presented. Radio spikes at 4750 GHz are interpreted in terms of both ECM and plasma emission. Resulting parameters of the flare plasma are discussed.

The ROSAT all-sky survey has now been completed and the analysis of this huge body of data is in progress. While final results on the number of detected X-ray sources and their distribution in flux are not yet available, the total number of X-ray sources is expected to be around 60 000. Preliminary results from optical identifications of selected fields show that about one quarter of the X-ray sources discovered at high galactic latitudes come from by comparison nearby stellar sources (Fleming 1991), while at lower galactic latitudes up to one half of the detected X-ray sources are of stellar origin; in areas occupied by star forming regions (for example, Orion) or open clusters (for example, Hyades or Pleiades) a large number of the detected X-ray sources can be identified with young stars, yielding up to 80 percent of the total source count as galactic stars. For the whole of the ROSAT all-sky survey we may therefore expect about one third of the total sources to be of stellar origin. The vast majority of these stellar X-ray sources is of coronal origin (i.e., late-type low mass stars). Only a relatively small number of stellar X-ray sources will be associated with early-type massive stars where the X-ray emission is thought to arise from instabilities in their radiatively driven winds or metal-poor degenerate stars where the X-ray emission comes from portions of the atmosphere considerably hotter than the optically visible photosphere. From the preliminary analyses performed so far it is already clear now that supersoft sources such as white dwarfs do not constitute a major fraction of the X-ray source population found in the ROSAT all-sky survey and the number of newly X-ray discovered white dwarfs will certainly be considerably less than one thousand. The X-ray emitting late-type stars are commonly referred to as “active” stars, and the ROSAT all-sky survey catalog will comprise the most extensive list of such objects.

At the time of writing (i.e., September 1991), the ROSAT all-sky survey has been completed and almost the entire sky has been scanned with an imaging X-ray telescope down to a limiting flux of approximately 2 10−13erg/s/cm2 in the pass band 0.1 — 2.0 keV; in regions of deeper exposures near the poles of the ecliptic considerably fainter flux limits have been achieved. While the processing and analysis of this huge body of data is still in progress and hence final results on the number of detected sources and their distribution in flux are not yet available, the total number of detected X-ray sources will be around 60 000. Preliminary results from optical identifications of selected fields show that about one quarter of the X-ray sources discovered at high galactic latitudes come from by comparison nearby stellar sources (Fleming 1991), while at lower galactic latitudes up to one half of the detected X-ray sources are of stellar origin; in areas occupied by star forming regions (for example, Orion) or open clusters (for example, Hyades or Pleiades) a large number of the detected X-ray sources can be identified with young stars, yielding up to 80 percent of the total source count as galactic stars. For the whole of the ROSAT all-sky survey we may therefore expect about one third of the total sources to be of stellar origin. The vast majority of these stellar X-ray sources is of coronal origin (i.e., late-type low mass stars). Only a relatively small number of stellar X-ray sources will be associated with early-type massive stars where the X-ray emission is thought to arise from instabilities in their radiatively driven winds or metal-poor degenerate stars where the X-ray emission comes from portions of the atmosphere considerably hotter than the optically visible photosphere. From the preliminary analyses performed so far it is already clear now that supersoft sources such as white dwarfs do not constitute a major fraction of the X-ray source population found in the ROSAT all-sky survey and the number of newly X-ray discovered white dwarfs will certainly be considerably less than one thousand. The X-ray emitting late-type stars are commonly referred to as ”active” stars, and the ROSAT all-sky survey catalog will comprise the most extensive list of such objects.

X-ray spectra of stellar X-ray sources taken with high, moderate and low spectral resolution are discussed. Only low resolution spectra are available for a sufficiently large number of late-type stars. It is shown that high temperature plasmas (log T > 7) produce the dominant emission component in the coronae of red dwarfs as well as yellow giants, while the coronae of F stars – usually – have X-ray temperatures similar to those found in the quiet Sun. The need for density diagnostics of stellar coronae is stressed and it is argued that the waveband region between 90 – 140 Å is particularly well suited for this purpose.

We summarize some of the results obtained by spectral analysis of EXOSAT ME observations of stellar coronal sources. We focus on time-resolved spectroscopy of stellar flares and on the determination of the temperature structure of quiescent RS CVn binaries

The Einstein Observatory demonstrated the existence of hot envelopes, i.e., stellar coronae, around most classes of normal stars (Vaiana et al. 1981). The coronae of late type stars of spectral type F through M are generally thought to be solar-like, i.e., structured and organised by the magnetic field topology and heated by some process(es) involving magnetic energy. Here the property “solar-like” does not refer to the optical appearance of a star, but rather to the role played by magnetic fields in the outer stellar envelope (Linsky 1985). Since it is difficult to measure magnetic fields on other stars directly, a number of indirect indicators is used in order to infer whether a corona should be considered “solar-like” or not.

On 1980 February 20 we conducted an 8-station intercontental VLBI experiment in order to study the nucleus and jet of M87 at 1666.6 MHz in right circular polarization. Our array was sensitive to structures from 0.001 to 0.1 arcsec. We made a hybrid map of the nucleus of M87, and also searched for compact structures within the knots of the jet. The map (Figure 1) shows that the nucleus of M87 contains a one-sided jet. This morphology is similar to that observed in many compact extragalactic sources. The position angle of the nuclear jet is 290.5 (±1) degrees, which precisely matches that of the 20 arcsec jet. No bending of the jet through an angle greater than about 2 degrees is observed. The nucleus also contains a large component (>0.1 arcsec) which is elongated along the same position angle as the jet and has a flux density of roughly 1 Jy. This component is fully resolved by the vast majority of our (u, v) points, and we could not map it with standard techniques.