Complex X-ray Absorption and the Fe K(alpha) Profile in NGC 3516

We present data from simultaneous Chandra, XMM-Newton and BeppoSAX observations of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 3516, taken during 2001 April and November. We have investigated the nature of the very flat observed X-ray spectrum. Chandra grating data show the presence of X-ray absorption lines, revealing two distinct components of the absorbing gas, one which is consistent with our previous model of the UV/X-ray absorber while the other, which is outflowing at a velocity of approximately 1100 kilometers per second, has a larger column density and is much more highly ionized. The broad-band spectral characteristics of the X-ray continuum observed with XMM during 2001 April, reveal the presence of a third layer of absorption consisting of a very large column (approximately 2.5 x 10(exp 23) per square centimeter) of highly ionized gas with a covering fraction approximately 50%. This low covering fraction suggests that the absorber lies within a few 1t-days of the X-ray source and/or is filamentary in structure. Interestingly, these absorbers are not in thermal equilibrium with one another. The two new components are too highly ionized to be radiatively accelerated, which we suggest is evidence for a hydromagnetic origin for the outflow. Applying our model to the November dataset, we can account for the spectral variability primarily by a drop in the ionization states of the absorbers, as expected by the change in the continuum flux. When this complex absorption is accounted for we find the underlying continuum to be typical of Seyfert 1 galaxies. The spectral curvature attributed to the high column absorber, in turn, reduces estimates of the flux and extent of any broad Fe emission line from the accretion disk.