Chandra Observations of NGC 7212: Large-scale Extended Hard X-ray
  Emission
  Recent observations of nearby Compton thick (CT) active galactic nuclei
(AGNs) with Chandra have resolved hard (>3 keV) X-ray emission extending out
from the central supermassive black hole to kiloparsec scales, challenging the
long-held belief that the characteristic hard X-ray continuum and fluorescent
Fe K lines originate in the inner ~parsec due to the excitation of obscuring
material. In this paper we present the results of the most recent Chandra
ACIS-S observations of NGC 7212, a CT AGN in a compact group of interacting
galaxies, with a total effective exposure of ~150 ks. We find ~20 percent of
the observed emission is found outside of the central ~kiloparsec, with ~17
percent associated with the soft X-rays, and ~3 percent with hard X-ray
continuum and Fe K line. This emission is extended both along the ionization
cone and in the cross-cone direction up to ~3.8 kpc scales. The spectrum of NGC
7212 is best represented by a mixture of thermal and photoionization models
that indicate the presence of complex gas interactions. These observations are
consistent with what is observed in other CT AGN (e.g., ESO 428-G014, NGC
1068), providing further evidence that this may be a common phenomenon.
High-resolution observations of extended CT AGN provide an especially valuable
environment for understanding how AGN feedback impacts host galaxies on
galactic scales.
