The book reviews the knowledge obtained from ground-based and space-borne solar flare research thus at the same time preparing for the forthcoming mission of the satellite Solar A which will be launched in 1991. Accordinglyone section is devoted to experiments on Solar A. The rest review both theory and observational facts to give a physically realistic picture of flares, including problems of magnetic flux emergence, high energy particles in flares, heating and flows in flares, and further problems of solar activity.

These Proceedings result from the papers and discussions of the U.S.-Japan Seminar "Recent Advances in the Understanding of Solar Flares" held in Tokyo October 5-8, 1982. The meeting was sponsored jointly by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the u.S. National Science Foundation. The principal aim of the meeting was to obtain the most up-to-date physical picture of solar flares by bringing together results from the recent observations by the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) and HINOTORI satellites, together with other satellite data and ground-based data at both optical and radio wavelengths. These data cover the recent maximum of the solar activity cycle. The SMM and HINOTORI introduced a new dimension in flare observations by carrying out the first hard X-ray imaging observations, and the organizers especially felt that an intense discussion of the significance of these results in the context of flare theories would be important. Starting with an introductory presentation of the characteristics of the instruments on board the satellites, the sessions of the first day and the beginning of the second dealt mainly with energy transport in flares and with .the formation process of the hot plasma which is .

These are the Proceedings of Colloquium No. 153 of the International Astro nomical Union, held at Makuhari near Tokyo on May 22 - 26, 1995, and hosted by the National Astronomical Observatory. This meeting was intended to be an interdisciplinary meeting between re searchers of solar and stellar activity, in order for them to exchange the newest information in each field. While each of these areas has seen remarkable advances in recent years, and while the researchers in each field have felt that information from the other's domain would be extremely useful in their own work, there have not been very many opportunities for intensive exchanges of information between these closely related fields. We therefore expected much from this meeting in pro viding stellar researchers with new results of research on the counterparts of their targets of research, spatially and temporarily resolved, as observed on the Sun. Likewise we hoped to provide solar researchers with new results on gigantic ver sions of their targets of research under the very different physical circumstances on other active stars. It was our greatest pleasure that we had wide attendance of experts and active researchers of both research fields from all over the world. This led to extremely interesting talks and very lively discussions, thereby stimulating the exchange of ideas across the fields.

The SOLAR-A spacecraft was launched by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan (ISS) in August 1991, and, following and ISAS tradition, was renamed YOHKOH. This mission is dedicated principally to the study of solar flares, especially of high-energy phenomena observed in the X-ray and gamma-ray ranges. With a co-ordinated set of instruments including hard X-ray and soft X-ray imaging telescopes as well as spectrometers with advanced capabilities, it is expected to reveal new aspects of flares and help better understand their physics, supporting international collaborations with ground-based observatories as well as theoretical investigations. An overview of this mission, including the stallite, its scientific instruments, and its operation is given in this book.