We present the results of our observations of eight magnetic Herbig Ae/Be stars obtained with the X-shooter spectrograph mounted on UT2 at the VLT .
X-shooter provides a simultaneous , medium-resolution and high-sensitivity spectrum over the entire wavelength range from 300 to 2500 nm .
We estimate the mass accretion rates ( { \dot { M } } _ { acc } ) of the targets from 13 different spectral diagnostics using empiric calibrations derived previously for T Tauri-type stars and brown dwarfs .
We have estimated the mass accretion rates of our targets , which range from 2 \times 10 ^ { -9 } to 2 \times 10 ^ { -7 } M _ { \sun } /yr .
Furthermore , we have found accretion rate variability with amplitudes of 0.10–0.40 dex taking place on time scales from one day to tens of days .
Additional future night-to-night observations need to be carried out to investigate the character of { \dot { M } } _ { acc } variability in details .
Our study shows that the majority of the calibrational relations can be applied to Herbig Ae/Be stars , but several of them need to be re-calibrated on the basis of new spectral data for a larger number of Herbig Ae/Be stars .