Core structure of M32 from seeing-deconvolved images

Results of two-color CCD surface photometry and seeing deconvolution of the central region of M32 (NGC 221), using the regularized multi-Gaussian method, a powerful nonlinear technique, are presented. The galaxy core remains essentially unresolved at the limit of the data, i.e., the core radius is r c ≤ 0.42 arcsec ⇒ 1.4 pc. A deprojected luminosity density profile of the galaxy is also presented, from a multi-Gaussian fit to a combined profile from these data, and the profile measured at large radii by Kent (1987, AJ, 94). The central luminosity density is obtained