Solar-like stars influence their environments through their coronal emis- sion and winds. These processes are linked through the physics of the stellar magnetic field, whose strength and geometry has now been explored for a large number of stars through spectropolarimetric observations. We have now detected trends with mass and rotation rate in the distribution of magnetic energies in different geometries and on also different length scales. This has implications both for the dynamo processes that generate the fields and also for the dynamics and evolution of the coronae and winds. Modelling of the surface driving processes on stars of various masses and rotation rates has revealed tantalising clues about the dynamics of stellar coronae and their ejecta. These new observations have also prompted a resurgence in the modelling of stellar winds, which is now uncovering the range of different interplanetary conditions that exoplanets might experience as they evolve.

The proximity of the SiO masers to the star, makes them a powerful tool for studying the properties of the extended stellar atmosphere. This project is a long monitoring campaign of the 43 GHz SiO masers (v=1 J=1→0) around the Mira Variable TX Cam. The target source was observed with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) from the 24th of May 1997 to the 25th of January 2002 in bi-weekly or monthly intervals, covering 3.06 stellar cycles. The time-span and frequency of observations helped us examine the long and short-term properties of the emission and study the dynamics of the gas, the existence of shock waves and their contribution to the morphology and kinematics. Maps from each epoch were concatenated into a 112-frame movie showing the evolution of the emission around TX Cam.

Our understanding of the structure and dynamics of stellar coronae has changed dramatically with the availability of surface maps of both star spots and also magnetic field vectors. Magnetic field extrapolations from these surface maps reveal surprising coronal structures for stars whose masses and hence internal structures and dynamo modes may be very different from that of the Sun. Crucial factors are the fraction of open magnetic flux (which determines the spin-down rate for the star as it ages) and the location and plasma density of closed-field regions, which determine the X-ray and radio emission properties. There has been recent progress in modelling stellar coronae, in particular the relative contributions of the field detected in the bright surface regions and the field that may be hidden in the dark star spots. For the Sun, the relationship between the field in the spots and the large scale field is well studied over the solar cycle. It appears, however, that other stars can show a very different relationship.

It has been known for some time now that rapidly-rotating solar-like stars possess the stellar equivalent of solar prominences. These may be three orders of magnitude more massive than their solar counterparts, and their ejection from the star may form a significant contribution to the loss of angular momentum and mass in the stellar wind. In addition, their number and distribution provide valuable clues as to the structure of the stellar corona and hence to the nature of magnetic activity in other stars.

Until recently, these “slingshot prominences” had only been observed in mature stars, but their recent detection in an extremely young star suggests that they may be more widespread than previously thought. In this review we will summarise our current understanding of these stellar prominences, their ejection from their stars and their role in elucidating the (sometimes very non-solar) behaviour of stellar magnetic fields.