Intrinsic shapes of discy and boxy ellipticals

Abstract

Statistical test for intrinsic shapes of elliptical galaxies have given so far inconclusive and sometime contradictory results. These failures have been often charged to the fact that classical tests consider only the two asymmetric shapes (oblate versus prolate), while ellipticals are truly triaxial bodies. On the other and, recent analyses indicate that the class of elliptical galaxies could be a mixture of two families, a family of fast-rotating, disc-like ellipticals (disky) and a family of slow-rotating, box-like ellipticals (boxy). The tests for intrinsic shapes of elliptical galaxies are reviewed using data of better quality (CCD) with respect to previous applications. Two samples of disky and boxy ellipticals are analyzed.