Centaurus A, at a distance of less than 4 Mpc, is the nearest radio-loud AGN.
Its emission is detected from radio to very-high energy gamma-rays. Despite the
fact that Cen A is one of the best studied extragalactic objects the origin of
its hard X-ray and soft gamma-ray emission (100 keV < E < 50 MeV) is still
uncertain. Observations with high spatial resolution in the adjacent soft X-ray
and hard gamma-ray regimes suggest that several distinct components such as a
Seyfert-like nucleus, relativistic jets, and even luminous X-ray binaries
within Cen A may contribute to the total emission in the MeV regime that has
been detected with low spatial resolution. As the Spectral Energy Distribution
of Cen A has its second maximum around 1 MeV, this energy range plays an
important role in modeling the emission of (this) AGN. As there will be no
satellite mission in the near future that will cover this energies with higher
spatial resolution and better sensitivity, an overview of all existing hard
X-ray and soft gamma-ray measurements of Cen A is presented here defining the
present knowledge on Centaurus A in the MeV energy range.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, article for conference proceedings "The Many
Faces of Centaurus A"; accepted for publication in PAS
