Color redshifts and the age of the stellar population of distant RC radio galaxies

BV RI data are presented for the majority of steep-spectrum objects in the RC catalog with m _R <23.5^m. Previously developed programs are applied to these data to estimate the redshifts and ages of the stellar systems of the host galaxies. Applying this program to the color data (BV RI JHK) for distant radio galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts indicates that this approach provides accurate estimates of the redshifts of such radio galaxies, close to those obtained using field galaxies (～20%). The age estimates are much less trustworthy, but a lower limit to the ages of objects that are not very distant (z<1.5) can be determined with certainty. We have identi fied several galaxies whose formal ages exceed the age of the Universe at the corresponding z in simple Cold Dark Matter models for the Universe. The possibility of using such objects to elucidate the role of “dark energy” is discussed. This paradox disappears in models with cosmological constants (Λ terms) equal to 0.6–0.8.