| Abstract
| - Abstract. In this paper, a BeppoSAX observation of the bright Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 6300 is presented. The rapidly variable emission from the active nucleus is seen through a Compton-thin absorber. A Compton-reflection component with an unusually high reflection fraction , and the comparison with a reflection-dominated spectrum measured by RXTE two and half years earlier suggest that NGC 6300 belongs to the class of ‘transient’ active galactic nucleus, undergoing long and repeated periods of low activity. The spectral transition provides support to the idea that Compton-thick and Compton-thin X-ray absorbers in Seyfert 2 galaxies are decoupled, the former being most likely associated with the ‘torus’, whereas the latter is probably located at much larger distances.
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