The contributions to this work are based on late-1990s knowledge of solar corona physics and on the prospects for future total eclipse observations, focusing on the eclipse of August 11, 1999 - the last this century - which forecasters believe will occur at precisely the maximum of solar activity. The results of past eclipse observations are reviewed, including coronal hot and cold structures, coronal heating, public education and instrumental problems. The relation of the corona to the Sun is discussed, that is, the energy and mass transfer between the chromosphere and the corona, including...

The NATO ARW on the problems of ground-based observations of Solar Eclipses was held in Sinaia (Romania) between 1 and 5 June 1996. The Workshop was divided into seven sessions, in which 17 papers were given, by key speakers, along with 30 oral presentations. Additionally, 30 posters were presented. This issue contains only the invited and oral papers. The posters are to be published in a special issue of the Romanian Astronomical Journal. The contributions were based on our present knowledge of solar corona physics and on the perspectives for future total eclipse observations, focussing...