Low mass stars

Low mass stars contribute an important fraction to the mass of our Galaxy. Due to the faintness of these stars a direct investigation of their space distribution and kinematics can be carried out only in the immediate solar neighbourhood. This fact emphasizes the importance of the Third Catalogue of Nearby Stars (CNS3) as a probe of the stellar content of our galaxy.A preliminary version (Gliese and Jahreiss, 1991) of the CNS3 was recently released. Based on this version the spatial distribution of the nearby red dwarf stars is discussed. An infrared and a bolometric luminosity function is presented and compared with independent determinations from photometric surveys. An outlook is given on the expectation for the next decade due to the various surveys presently carried out or planned for the near future.