An Efficient Search for Gravitationally-Lensed Radio Lobes

We performed an automated comparison of the FIRST radio survey with the APM optical catalog to find radio lobes with optical counterparts. Based on an initial survey covering approx. 3000 square degrees, we selected a sample of 33 lens candidates for VLA confirmation. VLA and optical observations of these candidates yielded two confirmed lens systems, one a new discovery (J0816+5003), and one of which was previously known (J1549+3047). Three other candidates have radio lobes with galaxies superposed, but lack evidence of multiple imaging. One of these targets (J0958+2846) is a projected close pair of quasars (8'' separation at redshifts 2.064 and 2.744). Our search method is highly efficient, with >5% of our observing targets being lensed, compared to the usual success rate of