Chandra X - ray observations of the stellar group near the Herbig Be star MWC 297 . A revision of the X - ray properties of MWC 297

We present a Chandra ACIS-I X-ray observation of the region near the Herbig early-Be star MWC 297, where we detect a tight group of point X-ray sources. These are probably physically associated to MWC 297, because of their obvious clustering with respect to the more scattered field-source population. These data are compared to earlier ASCA data with much poorer spatial resolution, from which the detection of strong quiescent and flaring emission from MWC 297 itself was claimed. We argue that this star, contributing only 5% to the total X-ray emission of the group, was probably not the dominant contributor to the observed ASCA emission, while the X-ray brightest star in the group is a much better candidate. This is also supported by the spectral analysis of the Chandra data, with reference to the ASCA spectra. We conclude that none of the X-ray data available for MWC 297 justify the earlier claim of strong magnetic activity in this star. The X-ray emission of MWC 297 during the Chandra observation is even weaker than that found in other Herbig stars with the same spectral type, even accounting for its large line-of-sight absorption.