CHROMOSPHERIC AND CORONAL HEATING MECHANISMS .2.

We review the mechanisms which are thought to provide steady heating o f chromospheres and coronae. It appears now fairly well established th at nonmagnetic chromospheric regions of late-type stars are heated by shock dissipation of acoustic waves which are generated in the stellar surface convection zones. In the case of late-type giants there is ad ditional heating by shocks from pulsational waves. For slowly rotating stars, which have weak or no magnetic fields, these two are the domin ant chromospheric heating mechanisms. Except for F-stars, the chromosp heric heating of rapidly rotating late-type stars is dominated by magn etic heating either through MHD wave dissipation (AC mechanisms) or th rough magnetic field dissipation (DC mechanisms). The MHD wave and mag netic field energy comes from fluid motions in the stellar convection zones. Waves are also generated by reconnective events at chromospheri c and coronal heights. The high-frequency part of the motion spectrum leads to AC heating, the low frequency part to DC heating. The coronae are almost exclusively heated by magnetic mechanisms. It is not possi ble to say at the moment whether AC or DC mechanisms are dominant, alt hough presently the DC mechanisms (e.g., nanoflares) appear to be the more important. Only a more detailed study of the formation of and the dissipation in small-scale structures can answer this question. The X -ray emission in early-type stars shows the presence of coronal struct ures which are very different from those in late-type stars. This emis sion apparently arises in the hot post-shock regions of gas blobs whic h are accelerated in the stellar wind by the intense radiation field o f these stars.