Abstract
We present the results of a Chandra soft X-ray observation of the spectacular ionization cone in the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 5252. As almost invariably observed in obscured AGN, the soft X-ray emission exhibits a remarkable morphological coincidence with the ionized gas cone as traced by HST O[III] images. Energy-resolved images and high-resolution spectroscopy suggest that the X-ray emitting gas is photoionized by the AGN, at least on scales as large as the innermost gas and stellar ring (≤ 3 kpc). Assuming that the whole cone is photoionized by the AGN, we reconstruct the history of the active nucleus in the last ∼ 10(5) years.
