Isolated neutron stars: An astrophysical perspective

We briefly review selected results in astrophysics of neutron stars (NSs) obtained during the last two years, focusing on isolated radioquiet objects. We discuss in some details population synthesis of close-by isolated NSs, spectra of INSs, detection of spectral features in these sources (including cyclotron features), recent results on velocity distribution of NSs and accretion onto INSs.