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We have estimated the ages of a sample of A-type Vega-like stars by using uvbyb photoStromgren metric data and theoretical evolutionary tracks. We Ðnd that 13% of these A stars have been reported as Vega-like stars in the literature and that the ages of this subset run the gamut from very young (50 Myr) to old (1 Gyr), with no obvious age di †erence compared to those of Ðeld A stars. We clearly show that the fractional IR luminosity decreases with the ages of Vega-like stars.

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We report the discovery of large-amplitude, periodic X-ray emission from the O7 V star θ 1 Orionis C, the central star of the Orion Nebula. Ten ROSAT HRI snapshots of the Trapezium cluster taken over the course of 21 days show that the count rate of θ 1 Ori C varies from 0.26 to 0.41 counts s −1 with a clear 15-day period. The soft X-ray variations have the same phase and period as Hα and He II λ4686 variations reported by Stahl et al., and are in anti-phase with the C IV and Si IV ultraviolet absorption features. We consider five mechanisms which might explain the amplitude, phase, and periodicity of the X-ray variations: (1) colliding-wind emission with an unseen binary companion, (2) coronal emission from an unseen late-type pre-main-sequence star, (3) periodic density fluctuations, (4) absorption of magnetospheric X-rays in a corotating wind, and (5) magnetosphere eclipses. The ROSAT data rule out the first three scenarios, but cannot rule out either of the latter two which require the presence of an extended magnetosphere, consistent with the suggestion of Stahl et al. that θ 1 Ori C is an oblique magnetic rotator. As such, θ 1 Ori C may be the best example of a high-mass analog to the chemically peculiar, magnetic Bp stars.