Radio and optical observations of 0218+357 - The smallest Einstein ring?

VLA radio observations and optical imaging and spectroscopy of the Einstein radio ring 0218+357 are presented. The ring is detected at 22.4 GHz and shows a basically similar structure at 5, 15, and 22.4 GHz. The B component has varied and was about 15 percent brighter in the 8.4 GHz data than in the data of Patnaik et al. (1992). The ring is highly polarized. A weak jetlike feature extending out roughly 2 arcsec to the southeast of component A is detected at 6 cm. The source has amorphous radio structure extending out to about 11 arcsec from the core. For an adopted redshift of 0.68, the extended radio emission is very powerful. The optical spectrum is rather red and shows no strong features. A redshift of about 0.68 is obtained. The identification is a faint compact m(r) about 20 galaxy which extends to about 4.5 arcsec (about 27 kpc). As much as 50 percent of the total light may be due to a central AGN. The observed double core and ring may be produced by an off-center radio core with extended radio structure.