Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Oct 1989
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1989apj...345..135d&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 345, Oct. 1, 1989, p. 135-139. Research supported by Rockwell International
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
6
Active Galactic Nuclei, Synchrotron Radiation, Thermal Plasmas, Astronomical Spectroscopy, Compton Effect, Electron Density (Concentration), Far Infrared Radiation, Relativistic Particles
Scientific paper
The observable effects of a thermal background plasma in a self-absorbed synchrotron source are reviewed, in the context of a model for the central engine of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). Considering the effects of free-free absorption and emission, Thomson and Compton scattering, and spatial stratification, it is found that the observations set an upper limit on the thermal electron scattering optical depth in the central synchrotron-emitting region of an AGN. The upper limit, tau(max) about 1, results mainly from the apparent absence of induced Compton scattering and inverse thermal Comptonization effects. The low value of tau(max) poses some problems for nonthermal models of the AGN continuum that can be partly resolved by assuming a thin disk or layer-like geometry for the source, with (h/R) less than about 0.01. A likely site for the synchrotron-producing region seems to be the surface of an accretion disk or torus.
Begelman Mitchell C.
de Kool Marthijn
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