The inner structure of the S0 galaxy NGC 3384

We re-investigate the lenticular galaxy NGC 3384, a member of the Leo I galaxy group, using HST and multi-colour Calar Alto observations. Various approaches are used to visualize the two known peculiar components, the so-called inner component (IC) and the elongated component (EC), on the HST images. The methods were checked in detail using synthetical images from simulated galaxies. For the first time, we make the IC as well as the inner part of the EC visible on direct images. The results confirm both the bar-like appearance of the inner EC and the quasi-elliptical shape of the IC. The IC resembles an inclined disk where the surface brightness becomes successively shallower towards the centre compared to an exponential profile. The orientation of the inner part of the EC is perpendicular to the major axis of the IC. The broad-band colour indices are shown to be in agreement with model predictions for a 5 to 7 Gyr old stellar population of quasi-solar metallicity. No significant large-scale variations of the colour indices over the main body of the galaxy are found. We discuss the previously reported colour gradients close to the nucleus and argue that the most plausible explanation is reddening by small amounts of dust though unsharp masked HST images do not provide significant hints for clumpy dust. According to the episodic dust settling scenario suggested by Lauer et al. (2005), the very low dust fraction indicates that NGC 3384 is in a post-activity phase and at the beginning of a new dust-settling cycle. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)