The X-ray view of the ionization cone in NGC5252

Abstract

We present the results of a Chandra soft X-ray observation of the spectacular ionization cone in the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 5252. As almost invariably observed in obscured AGN, the soft X-ray emission exhibits a remarkable morphological concidence with the cone ionized gas as traced by HST O[III] images. Energy-resolved images and high-resolution spectroscopy suggest that the X-ray emitting gas is photoionized by the AGN, at least on scales as large as the innermost gas and stellar ring (<3 kpc). Assuming that the whole cone is photoionized by the AGN, we reconstruct the history of the active nucles in the last 100000 years.

3 pages, 5 figures, To appear in the proceedings of the Workshop: "The Nuclear Region, Host Galaxy and Environment of Active Galaxies", RevMexAA (Serie de Conferencias), Ed. E.Benitez, I.Cruz-Gonzalez & Y.Krongold