The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. VII. The intrinsic shapes of low-luminosity galaxies in the core of the Virgo cluster, and a comparison with the Local Group

We investigate the intrinsic shapes of low-luminosity galaxies in the central 300 kpc of the Virgo Cluster using deep imaging obtained as part of the Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS). We build a sample of nearly 300 red-sequence cluster members in the yet-unexplored −14 < M_g < −8 mag range, and we measure their apparent axis ratios, q, through Sérsic fits to their two-dimensional light distribution, which is well described by a constant ellipticity parameter. The resulting distribution of apparent axis ratios is then fit by families of triaxial models with normally distributed intrinsic ellipticities, E = 1 − C/A, and triaxialities, T = (A^2 − B^2)/(A^2 − C^2). We develop a Bayesian framework to explore the posterior distribution of the model parameters, which allows us to work directly on discrete data, and to account for individual, surface-brightness-dependent axis ratio uncertainties. For this population we infer a mean intrinsic ellipticity E = 0.43_(-0.02)^(+0.02) and a mean triaxiality T = 0.16_(-0.06)^(+0.07). This implies that faint Virgo galaxies are best described as a family of thick, nearly oblate spheroids with mean intrinsic axis ratios 1:0.94:0.57. The core of Virgo lacks highly elongated low-luminosity galaxies, with 95% of the population having q > 0.45. We additionally attempt a study of the intrinsic shapes of Local Group (LG) satellites of similar luminosities. For the LG population we infer a slightly larger mean intrinsic ellipticity E = 0.51_(-0.06)^(+0.07), and the paucity of objects with round apparent shapes translates into more triaxial mean shapes, 1:0.76:0.49. Numerical studies that follow the tidal evolution of satellites within LG-sized halos are in good agreement with the inferred shape distributions, but the mismatch for faint galaxies in Virgo highlights the need for more adequate simulations of this population in the cluster environment. We finally compare the intrinsic shapes of NGVS low-mass galaxies with samples of more massive quiescent systems, and with field, star-forming galaxies of similar luminosities. We find that the intrinsic flattening in this low-luminosity regime is almost independent of the environment in which the galaxy resides, but there is a hint that objects may be slightly rounder in denser environments. The comparable flattening distributions of low-luminosity galaxies that have experienced very different degrees of environmental effects suggest that internal processes are the main drivers of galaxy structure at low masses, with external mechanisms playing a secondary role.