• Liller, Martha H.

Abstract

Thirty-one galaxies brighter than magnitude 14.0 and showing no fine structure were analyzed with the University of Michigan isophotometer from plates taken with the 48-inch Schmidt telescope of the Mount Palomar Observatory. For each galaxy the surface brightness, ellipticity, position angle, and amount of departure from elliptical shape are tabulated as functions of the semimajor axis of the corresponding isophote. Analysis of the data for twenty-seven circular and nearly circular galaxies indicates the existence of three types of galaxies: elliptical, 50, and a type intermediate between these two. Data for fifteen elongated galaxies indicate the existence of two groups of 50 galaxies, one group containing spindle-shaped galaxies and the other having galaxies with circular nuclei. None of these elongated galaxies shows characteristics typical of class E