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 Gamma similar to 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 K alpha and Si K alpha lines, which are marginally resolved with the Chandra HETGS, and we constrain the emission radius of the fluorescing material to greater than or similar to 1 pc. There is some evidence for modest additional broadening at the base of the narrow Fe K alpha core with a velocity similar to 4500 km s(-1). We find tentative evidence for ionized emission (O VIII Ly alpha, 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 similar to 160 pc from the nucleus. We suggest that the 10(23) cm(-2) partially covering absorber originates in broad-line region clouds in the vicinity of the AGN, and that the 3 x 10(22) 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.