OPTICAL-IDENTIFICATION OF A SUBSAMPLE OF STEEP-SPECTRUM RADIO-SOURCESFROM THE RC CATALOG USING THE 6-M SAO TELESCOPE - OPTICAL OBSERVATIONS

Results are presented of deep identifications of 40 steep spectrum rad io sources detected on RATAN-600 in an area similar to 100 degrees in the ''Kholod'' experiment and then studied using the VLA. Candidates f or optical objects responsible for the radio emission were found for 3 2 sources. Estimates of photometric redshifts are given for FRII objec ts, which dominate in the sample considered, using an earlier construc ted Hubble diagram. The mean photometric redshift is equal to 2. As fo r more nearby samples, objects of this class and at large redshifts ha ve radio luminosities close to those in the optical. We conclude that, with the exception of a few quasars and objects with ill-defined morp hology that were in the sample by chance, a large fraction of the radi o sources are associated either with gE galaxies (by analogy with know n nearby objects) or with galaxies of an unknown nature. Possibilities for future study of distant objects of this class are discussed.