Astrophysics

Solar flares are very complex electromagnetic phenomena of a cataclysmic nature.

One of the most spectacular discoveries of molecular astronomy has been the detection of maser emission.

Planetary nebulae are a keystone for the understanding of the evolution of stars, for deep insights into the physical processes prevailing in highly excited dilute nebulae, and for the chemical evolution in galaxies.

This textbook is intended as an introduction to the physics of solar and stellar coronae, emphasizing kinetic plasma processes.

A NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on the Behavior of Systems in the Space Environment was held at the Atholl Palace Hotel, Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland, from July 7 through July 19, 1991.

The European Workshop on White Dwarfs was initiated by Prof.

The original plans for a meeting to celebrate the second centenary of the As- tronomical Observatory of Palermo were for a celebration with a double character.

Infrared Solar Physics contains the proceedings of the 154th Symposium of the International Astronomical Union held in Tucson, Arizona, March 2--5, 1992.

In the last few years great improvements in the study of stellar jets and bipolar outflows have been achieved, both observationally and theoretically.

In July 1992, over 300 astronomers attended the Third Tetons Summer School on the subject of `The Environment and Evolution of Galaxies'.

Edgard Gunzig and Pasquale Nardone RGGR Universite Libre de Bruxelles CP231 1050 Bruxelles Belgium The NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "e;The Origin of Structure in the Universe"e; was organized to bring together workers in various aspects of relativistic cosmology with the aim of assessing the present status of our knowledge on the formation and evolution of structure.

Observations of the solar magnetic field are largely confined to the radiation emitted from the photosphere, the thin layer of the solar atmosphere which we call "e;the solar surface"e;.

The Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age are widely considered to have been the major features of the Earth's climate over the past 1000 years.

Cosmic electrodynamics is the specific branch of plasma physics which studies electromagnetic phenomena -- mostly the role of electromagnetic forces in dynamics of highly-conducting compressible medium in the solar interior and atmosphere, solar wind, in the Earth's magnetosphere and magnetospheres of other planets as well as pulsars and other astrophysical objects.

Long-term monitoring is of fundamental significance in solving many important problems in astrophysics and, furthermore, has unequalled value in extending observational runs with small telescopes for the education of young astronomers in order to teach them how to secure high-quality observational data over many years.

`Are there other planetary systems like ours?

H.

Prof.

IAU Transactions are published as a volume corresponding to each General Assembly.

Massive stars occupy an exceptional place in general astrophysics.

The nonlinear theory of oscillating systems brings new aspects into the study of variable stars.

In recent years there has been a steadily increasing cross-fertilization between cosmology and particle physics, on both the theoretical and experimental levels.

Summary of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Physical Signatures of Magnetospheric Boundary Layer Processes T A POTEMRA, M I PUDOVKIN, R W SMITH, V M VASYLIUNAS and A EGELAND 451 PREFACE These proceedings are based on the invited talks and selected research reports presented at the NATO Advanced Workshop on "e;PHYSICAL SIGNATURES OF MAGNETOSPHERIC BOUNDARY LAYER PROCESSES"e;, held at Sundvolden Hotel, Norway, 9.

In this Symposium, researchers specializing in pulsation, rotation, magnetic fields and stellar winds are brought together for the first time in order to broaden our understanding of O and B stars.

Magnetic energy release plays an important role in a wide variety of cosmic objects such as the Sun, stellar coronae, stellar and galactic accretion disks and pulsars.

The IAU Colloquium No.

Magnetism is one of the basic properties of matter.

nd The 2 SORO Workshop on "e;Mass Supply and Flows in the Solar Corona"e; was held in Marciana Mariana on the island of Elba, Italy, in the week September 27 to October 1, 1993, as part of a series of workshops planned by the Solar Corona and Particles Working Group of the SOHO Science Working Team (SWT).

Accretion disks in astrophysics represent the characteristic flow by which compact bodies accrete mass from their environment.

An almost complete collection of the papers given at the International Workshop on Imaging in High Energy Astronomy (Anacapri, Italy, 1994).

This special issue of the international journal of cosmic physics, Astrophysics and Space Science, contains invited contributions delivered at the Second IEEE International Workshop on Plasma Astrophysics and Cosmology, held from 10 to 12 May 1993 in Princeton, New Jersey.

The mystery of the diffuse interstellar bands has been variously a curiosity, a co- nundrum, and a nuisance for astronomers in the seven decades since the features were first noticed, but recently they have become a forefront issue in astrophysics.

Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) are well furnished laboratories in which one can investigate a number of important physical processes.

This specialized workshop was conceived during the workshop on "e;Non- isotropic and Variable Outflows from Stars"e;, which was held at the Space Telescope Science Institute in October, 1991.

Freja is a joint Swedish and German satellite, launched on October 6, 1992 and orbiting at 600--1750 km, covering the lower part of the auroral acceleration region.

In this IAU Symposium on Wolf--Rayet stars, binary aspects received ample attention, notably because of the recognition that many observations of spectral and photometric variability at all accessible wavelengths are related to colliding winds or other forms of wind interaction.

Collision-or interaction-induced spectroscopy refers to radiative transitions, which are forbidden in free atoms or molecules, but which occur in clusters of interacting atoms or molecules.

The launch in October 1990 of the joint ESA-NASA Ulysses mission marked the start of a new era in the study of the heliosphere.

The conference recorded in this volume was one of the events organised to celebrate the centenary of the (re)establishment of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, on Blackford Hill in 1884.

An up-to-date presentation of the progress and current problems in the early universe, cosmic microwave background radiation, large scale structure formation, and the interplay between them.

This volume consists of invited lectures and seminars presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute "e;The Gamma Ray Sky with COMPTON GRO and SIGMA"e; , which was held at the Centre de Physique Theorique of Les Houches (France) in January / February 1994.

In this volume a thorough review is given of waves in dusty plasmas, a fascinating new domain combining plasmas and charged dust, two omnipresent ingredients of the Universe.

This volume, together with its two companion volumes, originated in a study commis- sioned by the United States National Academy of Sciences on behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

V.

TO SOLAR TERRESTRIAL RELATIONS PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUMMER SCHOOL IN SPACE PHYSICS HELD IN ALPBACH, AUSTRIA, JULY 1S-AUGUST 10,1963 AND ORGANIZED BY THE EUROPEAN PREPARATORY COMMISSION FOR SPACE RESEARCH (COPERS) Edited by J.

A good deal of our information on solar physics and on solar phenomena is derived from the solar spectrum.

At this time when astronomers are being surprised by the discovery of objects which emit a fabulously large amount of energy, that is the quasi-stellar radio sources and the quasi-stellar galaxies, and when by the means of space vehicles X rays, gamma rays and cosmic rays are being observed to come from the depths of interstellar space, one may ask why write a book about stars.