The intrinsic shapes of galaxy groups

The intrinsic, three-dimensional shapes of small galaxy groups, containing between three and eight members, are evaluated using three different statistics: (i) the mean sum of square sines of angles in all possible triangles formed by members of the group; (ii) the variance of square paired separations in the group; (iii) the axial ratio of a rectangle containing the group. The mean values of these parameters and their rms deviations are calculated for observed galaxy groups and simulated groups with members that are distributed randomly within prolate or oblate spheroids. Comparison of observational data and simulations shows that the observed galaxy groups have shapes consistent with the projected shapes of prolate or oblate spheroids with axial ratios of 3: 1, regardless of their multiplicity, but inconsistent with the projected shapes of spherical objects.