2012ApJ...750...78G

A-type stars are expected to be X-ray dark, yet weak emission has been detected from several objects in this class. We present new Chandra/HRC-I observations of the A5 V star β Pictoris. It is clearly detected with a flux of (9±2)x10^–4 counts/s. In comparison with previous data this constrains the emission mechanism and we find that the most likely explanation is an optically thin, collisionally dominated, thermal emission component with a temperature around 1.1 MK. We interpret this component as a very cool and dim corona, with log L_X/L_bol= -8.2 (0.2-2.0 keV). Thus, it seems that β Pictoris shares more characteristics with cool stars than previously thought.