IMPROVED I-BAND CCD PHOTOMETRY OF NGC-3379 AND COMPARISON WITH A VIOLENT RELAXATION MODEL

We have obtained the E-W surface brightness profile of the standard el liptical NGC 3379 from overlapping NTT/SUSI frames out to similar to 5 '.2 from the centre of the galaxy. These observations in I include a h igh-resolution frame (sigma = 0''.37) of the centre. We find that a s ingle isothermal core does not fit the central surface photometry of t his galaxy, indicating that NGC 3379 may be the result of a more compl ex formation scenario than a dissipationless collapse. Combining B-ban d literature data with the present I-band profile we obtain a colour g radient consistent with an average abundance gradient of Delta[Fe/H]/D elta log R = -0.21 +/- 0.03.