WFPC2 Images of the Central Regions of Early-Type Galaxies - I. The Data

Abstract

We present high resolution R-band images of the central regions of 67 early-type galaxies obtained with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Our sample strikingly confirms the complex morphologies of the central regions of early-type galaxies. In particular, we detect dust in 43 percent of all galaxies, and evidence for embedded stellar disks in a remarkably large fraction of 51 percent. In 14 of those galaxies the disk-like structures are misaligned with the main galaxy, suggesting that they correspond to stellar bars in S0 galaxies. We analyze the luminosity profiles of the galaxies in our sample, and classify galaxies according to their central cusp slope. To a large extent we confirm the clear dichotomy found in previous HST surveys: bright, boxy ellipticals with shallow inner cusps (`core' galaxies) on one hand and faint, disky ellipticals with steep central cusps (`power-law' galaxies) on the other hand. The advantages and shortcomings of classification schemes utilizing the extrapolated central cusp slope are discussed, and it is shown that this cusp slope might be an inadequate representation for galaxies whose luminosity profile slope changes smoothly with radius rather than resembling a broken power-law. In fact, we find evidence for an `intermediate' class of galaxies, that cannot unambiguously be classified as either core or power-law galaxies, and which have central cusp slopes and absolute magnitudes intermediate between those of core and power-law galaxies.