An X-ray Flare Detected on the M8 Dwarf VB 10

We have detected an X-ray flare on the very low mass star VB 10 (GL 752 B; M8 V) using the ROSAT High Resolution Imager. VB 10 is the latest type (lowest mass) main sequence star known to exhibit coronal activity. X-rays were detected from the star during a single 1.1-ksec segment of an observation which lasted 22 ksec in total. The energy released by this flare is on the order of 10^27 ergs/sec. This is at least two orders of magnitude greater than the quiescent X-ray luminosity of VB 10, which has yet to be measured. This X-ray flare is very similar in nature to the far ultraviolet flare which was observed by Linsky et al. (1995) using the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph onboard Hubble Space Telescope. We discuss reasons for the extreme difference between the flare and quiescent X-ray luminosities, including the possibility that VB 10 has no quiescent (10^6 K) coronal plasma at all.