Multiband VLA Observations of the Faint Radio Core of 3CR 68.1

The large, powerful Fanaroff-Riley class II radio source 3CR 68.1 is an optically red quasar with strong evidence for dust reddening, intrinsic ultraviolet line absorption, and X-ray absorption. In the context of its large, extended radio structure and the evidence for intrinsic material along the line of sight, it is a good candidate for a quasar seen through the edge of an obscuring torus proposed by unified schemes. The compact radio core coincident with the optical position of the quasar is extremely weak compared to the very bright and luminous radio lobes, suggesting that the radio core might also suffer absorption. We observed 3CR 68.1 at six frequencies and show that the radio core has a flat spectrum with no evidence for free-free absorption or other strong absorption mechanisms. This result helps establish an empirical intrinsic lower range for core-to-lobe radio flux in the most powerful radio sources.
Comment: To appear in the Astronomical Journal