ASCA OBSERVATIONS OF THE CHAMELEON-II DARK CLOUD

ASCA results of eight X-ray sources in the Chamaeleon II dark cloud ar e presented. Six sources were identified as low-mass young stellar obj ects, either Class II-III sources or T Tauri stars with X-ray temperat ures and luminosities in the range of 0.8-3 keV and 10(29.9)-10(31.1) erg s(-1), respectively. Two of them showed time variability: one with typical hare profile and the other with a light curve showing fast-ri se and gradual decay. These variable sources exhibited a higher temper ature than did those of the other sources with less time variability. We found a high-temperature, time-variable, and moderately absorbed X- ray source which has no cataloged counterpart at any other wavelength. We also found hard X-rays at the position of a Herbig Ae candidate wi th an extremely large N-H of 2 x 10(23) H cm(-2), one order of magnitu de higher than that estimated from the optical extinction. The origin of the X-rays, including these two sources, are discussed.