An Unusual Radio Galaxy in Abell 428: A Large, Powerful FR I Source in a Disk-Dominated Host

We report the discovery of a powerful (~10^{24} Watts/Hz) FR I radio source in a highly flattened disk-dominated galaxy. Half of the radio flux from this source is concentrated within the host galaxy, with the remainder in a pair of nearly symmetrical lobes with total extent ~200kpc nearly perpendicular to the disk. The traditional wisdom maintains that powerful, extended radio sources are found only in ellipticals or recent merger events. We report B,R,J, and K imaging, optical spectroscopy, a rotation curve, an IRAS detection, and a VLA 20cm image for this galaxy, 0313-192. The optical and NIR images clearly show a disk. We detect apparent spiral arms and a dust-lane from B band imaging. The reddened nucleus is consistent with extinction by a similar dust-lane. The optical spectrum suggests a central AGN and some evidence of a starburst, with both the AGN and central starlight appearing substantially reddened. From analysis of the extended line emission in [OIII] and H-alpha we derive a rotation curve consistent with an early- type, dusty spiral seen edge-on. From the IRAS detection at 60 and 100 microns, we find that the ratio of Far IR to radio flux places this object firmly as a radio galaxy (i.e. the radio emission is not powered by star formation). The radio structure suggests that the radio source in this galaxy is related to the same physical mechanisms present in jet-fed powerful radio sources, and that such powerful, extended sources can (albeit extremely rarely) occur in a disk-dominated host.