Optically Faint Radio Sources: Reborn AGN?
  We have discovered a number of relatively strong radio sources in the
field-of-view of SDSS galaxy clusters which present no optical counterparts
down to the magnitude limits of the SDSS. The optically faint radio sources
appear as double-lobed or core-jet objects on the FIRST radio images and have
projected angular sizes ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 arcmin. We have followed-up
these sources with near-infrared imaging using the wide-field imager HAWK-I on
the VLT. K_s-band emitting regions, about 1.5 arcsec in size and coincident
with the centers of the radio structures, were detected in all the sources,
with magnitudes in the range 17-20 mag. We have used spectral modelling to
characterize the sample sources. In general, the radio properties are similar
to those observed in 3CRR sources but the optical-radio slopes are consistent
with moderate to high redshift (z<4) gigahertz-peaked spectrum sources. Our
results suggest that these unusual objects are galaxies whose black hole has
been recently re-ignited but retain large-scale radio structures, signatures of
previous AGN activity.
