IS CYGNUS A REPRESENTATIVE OF z ~ 1 RADIO GALAXIES?
In the introductory section the unique character of Cygnus A was noted, being more than 1.5 orders of magnitude more radio luminous than other nearby Fanaroff and Riley Class II radio galaxies. Due to the steepness of the radio luminosity function comparable radio galaxies are only found at redshifts 1 and beyond. Those extremely powerful distant radio galaxies are objects of great current interest, and the natural question arises if Cygnus A can be regarded as a nearby example. With reference to McCarthy (1993), many high redshift radio galaxies are characterized by very strong and extended (tens of kpc) narrow emission line regions, usually aligned with the radio source axis, blue optical-infrared colours, and spectacular continuum morphologies, again roughly aligned, with usually high level of optical (restframe ultraviolet) polarization. Whereas Cygnus A does have a blue excess this is concentrated in the nuclear region (central few kpc). Furthermore, neither the continuum nor the
