THE STRUCTURE OF THE CARINA DWARF ELLIPTICAL GALAXY.

Abstract

ABSTRACT A determination is made of the structure of the Carina dwarf elliptical galaxy on the basis of counts of over 8000 stars on prints made from a CTIO (Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory) 4-m prime-focus blue plate. the ellipticity of Carina is found to be E = 0.4 to r = 11 arcmin. The tidal radius is 33 arcmin. If its luminosity function is similar to that of M3, then its mass is 5.3 x 10 to the 5th solar masses. In order to verify the constancy of the limiting magnitude from print to print, a substantial fraction of the field is reproduced on more than one print. More than 50 percent of the stars are counted more than once, and no obvious difference in the quality of each print is detected.