X-ray Photons in the CO 2-1 'Lacuna' of NGC 2110
  A recent ALMA study of the Seyfert 2 Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) NGC 2110
by Rosario et al. (2019) 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.
Since interaction with X-ray photons could be the cause of this excitation, we
have searched the archival Chandra data for corroborating evidence. We report
an extra-nuclear ~1'' (~170 pc) feature found in the soft (<1.0 keV) Chandra
data of the Seyfert 2 Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) NGC 2110. This feature is
elongated to the north of the nucleus and its shape matches well that of the
optical lines and H2 emission observed in this region, which is devoid of CO
2-1 emission. The Chandra image completes the emerging picture of a multi-phase
circumnuclear medium excited by the X-rays from the AGN, with dense warm
molecular clouds emitting in H2 but depleted of CO 2-1 emission.
