THE OPTICAL STRUCTURE OF THE RADIO GALAXY HERCULES-A

We present broadband images of the optical counterpart to the very str ong radio source Hercules A. Through morphological analysis we have be en able to identify this source as a cD galaxy with a double nucleus w ith a nuclear separation of approximately 4 arcsec. We also find a low -luminosity tail coming from the NW end of the cD. There is a slight k not near the center of this extension which may imply that this tail m ay be a companion galaxy, or perhaps that the knot is just a very fain t foreground star. We discuss the morphological and other properties o f this radio galaxy.