A Chandra view of the clumpy reflector at the heart of the Circinus
  galaxy
  We present a spectral and imaging analysis of the X-ray reflecting structure
at the heart of the Circinus galaxy, investigating the innermost regions
surrounding the central black hole. By studying an archival 200 ks Chandra
ACIS-S observation, we are able to image the extended clumpy structure
responsible for both cold reflection of the primary radiation and neutral iron
Ka line emission. We measure an excess of the equivalent width of the iron Ka
line which follows an axisymmetric geometry around the nucleus on a hundred pc
scale. Spectra extracted from different regions confirm a scenario in which the
dominant mechanism is the reflection of the nuclear radiation from
Compton-thick gas. Significant differences in the equivalent width of the iron
Ka emission line (up to a factor of 2) are found. It is argued that these
differences are due to different scattering angles with respect to the line of
sight rather than to different iron abundances.
