Surface photometry of dwarf elliptical galaxies in the Virgo cluster

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Abstract

Photographic surface photometry is carried out for 69 dwarf ellipticals in the central region of the Virgo Cluster, using two plates in the B band taken with the 2.5 m du Pont telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. Luminosity profiles and various photometric parameters are obtained, and the following three results are derived: (1) All the dwarf ellipticals in the sample have luminosity profiles consistent with exponential laws except for six galaxies which are probably giant ellipticals in the background. If they are physcial members of the Virgo Cluster, they may be identified with 'classical' dwarf ellipticals recognized by Wirth and Gallagher. (2) The distribution of apparent flattenings of dwarf ellipticals suggests that the population of dwarf ellipticals is not dominated by flat disk systems like spiral galaxies, in spite of their exponential profiles. (3) Two important diagrams, a diagram of concentration index versus absolute magnitude and a diameter versus surface brightness diagram (DSBD), show a hint of structural discontinuity in the sequence of spheroidal stellar systems consisting of giant ellilpticals, dwarf ellipticals, and globular clusters.

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