Our adaptive optics observations of nearby AGN at spatial resolutions as small as 0.″085 show strong evidence for recent, but no longer active, nuclear star formation. We begin by describing observations that highlight two contrasting methods by which gas can flow into the central tens of parsecs. Gas accumulation in this region will inevitably lead to a starburst, and we discuss the evidence for such events. We then turn to the impact of stellar evolution on the further inflow of gas by combining a phenomenological approach with analytical modelling and hydrodynamic simulations. These complementary perspectives paint a picture in which all the processes are ultimately regulated by the mass accretion rate into the central hundred parsecs, and the ensuing starburst that occurs there. The resulting supernovae delay accretion by generating a starburst wind, which leaves behind a clumpy interstellar medium. This provides an ideal environment for slower stellar outflows to accrete inwards and form a dense turbulent disk on scales of a few parsecs. Such a scenario may resolve the discrepancy between the larger scale structure seen with adaptive optics and the small-scale structure seen with VLTI.

The Joint European X-ray Telescope (JET-X) is one of the core scientific instruments of the SPECTRUM RONTGEN-γ astrophysics mission. The project is a collaboration of British, Italian and Russian consortia, with the participation of the Max Planck Institut (Germany). JET-X was designed to study the emission from X-ray sources in the band of 0.3-10 keV. Citterio et al. (1996 and references therein) describe its structure, composed by two identical and coaligned Wolter I telescopes. Focal plane imaging is provided by cooled X-ray sensitive CCD detectors which combine high spatial resolution with good spectral resolution, including coverage of the iron line complex around 7 keV at a resolution of ΔE/E ~ 2%.

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.

Different chemo-dynamical models dealing with the formation of stellar disks in the course of galaxy evolution are presented. One-dimensional models concerning the vertical stratification of disks are in strikingly good agreement with the solar vicinity. Two-dimensional investigations of the global evolution of disk galaxies show from preliminary results that the disk formation is delayed by means of an equatorial outflow of hot metal-enriched gas that stems from supernova ejecta in the star-forming central region.

Preliminary results of 1– and 2– dimensional hydrodynamical calculations of the common envelope phase in very slow classical novae are presented. We show that frictional deposition of orbital energy and angular momentum into the envelope can potentially induce mass loss. Specifically, we find that despite rapid initial spin–up of the envelope, ejection of mass in the orbital plane continues at a substantial rate.