3C 323.1; z=0.264

This QSO has a bright nucleus that produces diffraction spikes in the near-infrared image. It has a close companion to the northwest that does not show clear signs of interaction, but is consistent with being the remnant nucleus of a galaxy in the final stages of merging [Miller and Sheinis2003,Canalizo and Stockton1997]. The Keck spectroscopy presented by Miller et al. demonstrate that the host is not a normal elliptical galaxy, and from our H-band image there is some evidence of disturbance, which may explain the small scale length fit to the data. It is also possible that the radio emission from this source is Doppler boosted, making it an artificially radio-loud object.