X-Ray Photons in the CO 2-1 "Lacuna" of NGC 2110

A recent Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array study of the Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus (AGN) NGC 2110 by Rosario et al. has reported a remarkable lack of CO 2─1 emission from the circumnuclear region, where optical lines and H2 emission are observed, leading to the suggestion of excitation of the molecular clouds by the AGN. As interaction with X-ray photons could be the cause of this excitation, we have searched the archival Chandra data for corroborating evidence. We report the discovery of an extra-nuclear ∼1″ (∼170 pc) feature in the soft (<1.0 keV) Chandra data. This feature is elongated to the north of the nucleus and its shape matches well that of the optical lines and H2 emission in this region, which is devoid of CO 2─1 emission. The Chandra image completes the emerging picture of a multiphase circumnuclear medium excited by the X-rays from the AGN, with dense warm molecular clouds emitting in H2 but depleted of CO 2─1 line emission.