"Compton-Reflection" in Seyfert 1 Galaxies

The X-ray spectra of Seyfert 1 AGN can contain several components.

The continuum has an apparent power law form, which covers several decades in energy. This is attenuated at soft X-ray energies by absorption both in the interstellar medium in our Galaxy and by material local to the active galaxy (eg. a warm absorber). An emission line from Fe K alpha has been observed at 6-7 keV in the vast majority of sources. A hard component affects the spectrum above 10 keV which is probably produced by Compton scattering (``reflection'') of the continuum in the material which produces the line.

At least three nuclear emission/absorption regions are envisaged to account for these components. The region which emits the primary X-ray continuum may consist of

• hot and/or relativistic electrons and/or electron-positron pairs which Compton up-scatter softer ``seed'' photons.
• Compton-thick material in a low state of ionization, which may be identified with an accretion disk, gives rise to the Fe K alpha line, the "reflected" continuum and possibly the ``soft excess''.

• A list of Compton Reflection Papers
• The FGF page, and FGF+ page

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