A Chandra observation of the H2O megamaser IC 2560

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 336; no. 4; pp. L71 - L74
• Main Authors: Iwasawa, K., Maloney, P. R., Fabian, A. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 23 Ainslie Place , Edinburgh EH3 6AJ , UK . Telephone [phone] Fax [phone] Blackwell Science Ltd 11-11-2002
• Subjects: galaxies: individual: IC 2560; masers; X-rays: galaxies; galaxies: individual: IC 2560; X-rays: galaxies; masers
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.06070.x

Abstract
A short Chandra ACIS-S observation of the Seyfert 2 galaxy IC 2560, which hosts a luminous nuclear water megamaser, shows (1) that the X-ray emission is extended; (2) that the X-ray spectrum displays emission features in the soft (E < 2 keV) X-ray band (this is the major component of the extended emission); and (3) a very strong (EW ∼ 3.6 keV) iron Kα line at 6.4 keV on a flat continuum. This last feature clearly indicates that the X-ray source is hidden behind Compton-thick obscuration, so that the intrinsic hard X-ray luminosity must be much higher than that observed, probably close to ∼3 × 1042 erg s−1. We briefly discuss the implications for powering of the maser emission and the central source.