Investigations of stellar coronae with XMM-Newton Original Research Article

The XMM-Newton observatory has given a strong new impetus to the investigations of stellar coronae. It carries high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic instruments that give access to information on the physical conditions in coronal plasmas. Furthermore, its imaging detectors produce high-quality X-ray light curves and images with a large field of view. I review results on stellar coronae obtained with XMM-Newton between its launch in late 1999 and the present late 2002. Among other topics, I discuss the elemental composition of stellar coronae and plasma electron densities in quiescence and during flares. I present evidence for various signatures of the Neupert effect in stars, which provides evidence of chromospheric and coronal heating by flares. Coronal structures based on eclipse mapping inferred from light curve inversion are shown.