Probing Unification with Chandra HETGS and XMM-Newton EPIC and RGS Spectroscopy of the Narrow Emission Line Galaxy NGC 2110

We present results from Chandra HETGS (250 ks over two epochs) and XMM-Newton EPIC and RGS (60 ks) observations of NGC 2110, which has been historically classified as a narrow emission line galaxy. Our results support the interpretation that the source is a Seyfert 2 viewed through a patchy absorber. The nuclear X-ray spectrum of the source is best described by a power law of photon index Γ~1.7, modified by absorption from multiple layers of neutral material at a large distance from the central supermassive black hole. We report the strong detections of Fe Kα and Si Kα lines, which are marginally resolved with the Chandra HETGS, and we constrain the emission radius of the fluorescing material to >~1 pc. There is some evidence for modest additional broadening at the base of the narrow Fe Kα core with a velocity ~4500 km s^-1. We find tentative evidence for ionized emission (O VIII Lyα, an O VIII RRC feature, and possibly a Ne IX forbidden line) in the Chandra MEG and XMM-Newton RGS spectra, which could be associated with the known extended X-ray emission that lies ~160 pc from the nucleus. We suggest that the 10²³ cm^-2 partially covering absorber originates in broad-line region clouds in the vicinity of the AGN, and that the 3×10²² cm^-2 coverer is likely to have a more distant origin and have a flattened geometry in order to allow the small-scale radio jet to escape.