Isophotal shapes of early-type galaxies. I. Elongated ellipticals.

We have observed 43 very elongated elliptical galaxies in direct B, V, R CCD imaging with the 2m telescope of Pic-du-Midi Observatory and with the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope in fairly good seeing conditions. Five galaxies do not show an elliptical structure: three clearly show spiral features and one is a dumbbell. We analyzed the 38 other galaxies with an isophote-fitting procedure which allows one to derive the deviations from pure ellipses in terms of the coefficients of a Fourier series. The geometrical parameters of these 38 elongated ellipticals are presented, with brief comments on their peculiarities.