NASA NTRS1994
We present deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide-Field Camera (WFC) V- and I-band images of three distant weak radio galaxies with z = 0.311-2.390 and seven field galaxies with z = 0.131-0.58. The images were deconvolved with both the Lucy and multiresolution CLEAN methods, which yield a restoring Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of less than or equal to 0.2 sec, (nearly) preserve photons and signal-to-noise ratio at low spatial frequencies, and produce consistent light profiles down to our 2 sigma surface brightness sensitivity limit of V approximately 27.2 and I approximately 25.9 mag/sq arcsec. Multi-component image modeling was used to provide deconvolution-independent estimates of structural parameters for symmetric galaxies. We present 12-band (m(sub 2750) UBVRIgriJHK) photometry for a subset of the galaxies and bootstrap the unknown FOC/48 zero point at 2750 A in three independent ways (yielding m(sub 2750) = 21.34 +/- 0.09 mag for 1.0 e(-)/s). Two radio galaxies with z = 0.311 and 0.528, as well as one field galaxy with z = 0.58, have the colors and spectra of early-type galaxies, and a(exp 1/4)-like light profiles in the HST images. The two at z greater than 0.5 have little or no color gradients in V - I and are likely giant ellipticals, while the z = 0.311 radio galaxy has a dim exponential disk and is likely an S0. Six of the seven field galaxies have light profiles that indicate (small) inner bulges following a(exp 1/4) laws and outer exponential disks, both with little or no color gradients. These are (early-type) spiral galaxies with z = 0.131-0.528. About half have faint companions or bars. One shows lumpy structure, possibly a merger. The compact narrow-line galaxy 53W002 at z = 2.390 has less than or = 30% +/- 10% of its HST V and I flux in the central kiloparsec (due to its weak Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN)). Most of its light (V approximately equal to 23.3) occurs in a symmetric envelope with a regular a(exp 1/4)-like profile of effective radius a approximately equal to 1.1 sec (approximately equal to 12 kpc for H(sub 0) = 50, q(sub 0) = 0.1. Its (HST) V - I color varies at most from approximately 0.3 mag at a approximately equal to 0.2 sec to approximately 1.2 mag at a approximately greater than 0.4 sec, and possibly to approximately greater than 2.2 mag at a approximately greater than 1.2 sec. Together with its I - K color (approximately equal to 2.5 mag for a approximately greater than 1.0 sec-2.0 sec), this is consistent with an aging stellar population approximately 0.3-0.5 Gyr old in the galaxy center (a approx. less than 2 kpc radius), and possibly approximately 0.5-1.0 Gyr old at a approximately greater than 10 kpc radius. While its outer part may thus have started to collapse at z = 2.5-4, its inner part still is aligned with its redshifted Ly(alpha) cloud and its radio axis, possibly caused by star formation associated with the radio jet, or by reflection from its AGN cone.