Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 September 2017
Knowledge gained in the study of planetary nebulae has been, and can be further, transferred to understanding active galactic nuclei. Photoionization is the main energy-input mechanism in the narrow-line regions, and probably although by no means certainly in the broad-line regions as well. There are many detailed differences because of the much “harder” input spectrum in active galactic nuclei, compared with planetary nebulae. A tentative model of the structure of the gas distribution in a Seyfert-galaxy nucleus is presented.