2000A&A...364..205C

We present high-precision photometry, high- and medium-resolution spectroscopy for a sample of 32 stars likely to be the optical counterparts of X-ray sources serendipitously detected by the EXOSAT satellite. Using also recent results from the Hipparcos satellite, we infer spectral types, compute X-ray luminosities and Li abundances and investigate the single or binary nature of the sample stars. We found eleven new variable stars, whose photometric periods fall in the 1.2-27.5 day range, for most of which the optical variability is consistent with the presence of photospheric cool spots. For our sample of X-ray selected stars we confirm the existence of a strong correlation between the stellar rotation rate and the level of activity, and also between the X-ray and bolometric luminosities. Two stars in our sample are likely to be pre-main sequence objects, one is likely to be a previously unknown M-type star within 25pc.