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   63028
   We propose to observe with ASCA the bright low power radio galaxy
   3C~293, with the aim of discriminating between thermal emission from
   hot diffuse gas and the expected non--thermal power law component
   originating in the inner nucleus as relativistically beamed
   radiation.This would allow us to shed light on three fundamental (and
   still open) issues on the physics of AGN, by: 1) quantitatively testing
   the currently most popular unification scheme for radio galaxies and
   blazars; 2) determining any thermal emission, which is expected to
   dominate only below 1 keV, from hot diffuse gas most likely related
   with the accretion process; 3) studying the relationship between the
   extended gas and the radio structure and its consequences on the energy
   and matter content of jets.
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