Wednesday, 25 June 2014

galaxy - What methods exist to calculate the ellipticity of galaxies

What methods exist to calculate the ellipticity of galaxies and what are their drawbacks? I have asked this question about ellipticity in the SDSS but I want to know about general methods for cases where I have just an image of a galaxy.



I do so far know these methods:



  • ellipticity from stoke parameters or the flux-weighted second moment as described here.

  • from adaptive moments as described here (which would allow me to do shear calibration).

  • fit an ellipse on a particular isophote as decribed here.

My question is whether there are further methods I am not aware of. Does there also exist a method when I fit an ellipse to all isophotes? And how would I calculate the 'average' from it (such that the spherical center does not contribute to much)?



I would like to learn about the pro and cons of each method. I am especially interessted in methods that get close to what people would estimate by eye. I would also be glad to hear about references (textbooks or papers) for the different methods.

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