We present HST Planetary Camera V and I band images of the central reg
ion of the peculiar giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1316. These high resol
ution images reveal that the central surface brightness rises sharply
to 12.1 mag arcsec(-2) in the I band and 13.5 mag arcsec(-2) in the V
band. The inner profile is well fit by a nonisothermal core model with
a core radius of 0''.41+/-0''.02 (34 pc). At an assumed distance of 1
6.9 Mpc, the deprojected luminosity density reaches similar to 2.0x10(
3)L(circle dot) pc(-3). Outside the inner two or three arcseconds, a c
onstant mass-to-light ratio of similar to 2.2+/-0.2 is found to fit th
e observed line width measurements. The line width measurements of the
center indicate the existence of either a central dark object of mass
2x10(9)M(circle dot), an increase in the stellar mass-to-light ratio
by at least a factor of 2 for the inner few arcseconds, or perhaps inc
reasing radial orbit anisotropy towards rile center, The mass-to-light
ratio run in the center of NGC 1316 resembles that of many other gian
t ellipticals, some of which are known from other evidence to harbor c
entral massive dark objects (MDOs). The V-I color of unreddened region
s is found to be uniform at 1.55+/-0.10. The profile dots not get sign
ificantly bluer near the center as might be expected in a merger, exce
pt for perhaps the innermost 0''.1. Fits to the unextinguished regions
at the center raise concerns that the possible UV-blight point source
reported by Fabbiano et al. [ApJ, 434, 67 (1995)] is partially or ful
ly explained by dust clouds wrapped around the central line of sight.
The smoothness of the underlying stellar distribution allows analysis
of the three-dimensional distribution of the dust. We use two observab
les; the color excess and the ratio of observed V band flux to that of
a symmetric smooth fit. The maximum optical depth is only A(v) simila
r to 1.5, and only complexes on the near side of the galaxy are detect
ed. We also examine twenty globular clusters associated with NGC 1316
and report their brightnesses, colors, and limits on tidal radii. The
brightest cluster has ii luminosity of 9.9X10(6)L(circle dot) (M(v)=-1
2.7), and the faintest detectable cluster has a luminosity of 2.4X10(5
)L(circle dot) (M(v)=-8.6). The globular clusters are just barely reso
lved, but their core radii are too small to be measured. The tidal rad
ii in this region appear to be less than or equal to 35 pc. Although t
his galaxy seems to have undergone a substantial merger in the recent
past, young globular clusters are not detected. (C) 1996 American Astr
onomical Society.