Photometry of the central region of the Andromeda Nebula

The photoelectric U, B, V observations of the central region of M81 made in 166 fields at distances of 54-351 arcsec from the center are used to explain the structure of the central condensation of the galaxy. The surface-brightness isophotes can be fit by ellipses varying in axial ratio from 0.9 to 0.6 and in position angle from 70 to 45 deg. The central condensation may include a bar in the form of a triaxial ellipsoid; the nucleus occupies an asymmetric position in this condensation, shifted by 22 arcsec northwest relative to the most distant U isophote at a = 368 arcsec. The apparent eccentricity with respect to the outlying isophotes is caused by distribution of dust, as shown by the colorimetric B - V, U - B color-index profiles reflecting the dust in the central condensation of M31.