NGC 205 and the Nature of Compact Nuclei in Dwarf Galaxies

Compact nuclei are both a ubiquitous and a striking feature in low-surface brightness dwarf galaxies, sometimes containing a large fraction of the total light. Yet, their nature and origin are still a mystery. Spectroscopic and photometric observations suggest that the nuclei contain an intermediate-age stellar population. Their structural and dynamical parameters are still very poorly known, due to their compactness: essentially all an unresolved. The Local Group dwarf galaxy NGC 205 contains the nearest, albeit an unimpressive and relatively faint example. Even in this nearby case, the nucleus is almost unresolved, making the estimates of its structural and dynamical parameters difficult. The situation can be helped somewhat by seeing deconvolution