2002MNRAS.336L..71I

A short Chandra ACIS-S observation of the Seyfert 2 galaxy IC 2560, which hosts a luminous nuclear water megamaser, shows (1) that the X-ray emission is extended; (2) that the X-ray spectrum displays emission features in the soft (E < 2 keV) X-ray band (this is the major component of the extended emission); and (3) a very strong (EW ∼ 3.6 keV) iron Kα line at 6.4 keV on a flat continuum. This last feature clearly indicates that the X-ray source is hidden behind Compton-thick obscuration, so that the intrinsic hard X-ray luminosity must be much higher than that observed, probably close to ∼3x10⁴² erg s ^–1. We briefly discuss the implications for powering of the maser emission and the central source.