The main part of this paper is concerned with observations obtained using the Princeton ultraviolet telescope-spectrometer on the Copernicus satellite through the Princeton guest investigator programme. These observations provided high resolution ultraviolet spectra of the bright southern shell star η Cen, which are now being analysed in detail. A short description of the new η Cen spectra and a progress report on the data analysis are presented below. In the second part of the paper we describe visible-region spectra of the northern Be stars γ Cas and φ Per obtained with a cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph on the 36-inch Yapp telescope at the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
High resolution energy loss research: Si compounds and ceramics. Progress report, January 2, 1991--January 1, 1992