THE REDDENED QUASAR 3C-22 AND ITS IMPLICATIONS

We prove the presence of a broad (approximate to 5000 km s(-1)) H alpha emission line in the spectrum of the z = 0.935 'radio galaxy' 3C 22. This confirms suspicions that some of the faint red objects classified as high-redshift radio galaxies are actually slightly reddened quasars. Using our WHT and UKIRT spectra, we estimate a rest-frame extinction towards the quasar of A(V) similar to 2, We review the difficulties involved in detecting broad emission lines in high-redshift radio galaxies, concluding that, if one wishes to discover the origin of the observed near-infrared light, then near-infrared spectroscopy is a very limited technique. We argue that a programme of thermal imaging is likely to prove far more fruitful.