The Orientation of Elliptical Galaxy NGC 741

Abstract

Determination of the orientation of the elliptical galaxies is an important problem. We determine the orientation of the light distribution of individual elliptical galaxies by combining the profiles of photometric data from the literature with triaxial models. The likelihood of obtaining the data from a model is a function of the parameters describing the intrinsic shape and the orientation. Integrating the likelihood over the shape parameters, we obtain the estimates of the orientation. Apply the methodology to determine the orientation of the galaxy NGC 741.