a) V–H color map (gray scale in STmag magnitude system) of 3C 236, with the integrated ¹²CO(2-1) emission overlaid. Contour levels as in Fig. 2. b) Zoom into the central 3″ of 3C 236. Contours represent the ¹²CO(2-1) line maps of 3C 236 integrated in two channels: blue (–330 km s^-1  <  ν  <  ) and red (  <  ν  <   + 485 km s^-1). The contour levels are 3σ to 4.5σ in steps of 0.5σ (σ = 0.13 Jy beam^-1 km s^-1) for the blue channel, and 3σ to 7σ in steps of 0.5σ (σ = 0.13 Jy beam^-1 km s^-1) for the red channel. The dashed line shows the major axis of the molecular gas disk. (Δα, Δδ)-offsets in arcsec are relative to the location of the AGN. The gray ellipses show the 1 mm beam. Color version available in electronic format.