We present a detailed analysis of the morphology , isophotal parameters and surface brightness profiles for 100 early-type members of the Virgo Cluster , from dwarfs ( M _ { B } = -15.1 mag ) to giants ( M _ { B } = -21.8 mag ) .
Each galaxy has been imaged in two filters , closely resembling the Sloan g and z passbands , using the Advanced Camera for Surveys on board the Hubble Space Telescope .

Dust and complex morphological structures are common .
Dust is detected in as many as 18 , preferentially bright , galaxies .
The incidence rate in the 26 galaxies brighter than B _ { T } = 12.15 mag , which form a magnitude limited sample , is 42 % .
The amount and distribution of dust show no obvious correlations with galaxy morphology ; dust features range from faint wisps and patches on tens of parsec scales , to regular , highly organized kpc-scale dust disks .
Blue star clusters are interspersed within the larger , clumpier dust disks , while thin , dynamically cold stellar disks are seen in association with the smaller , uniform nuclear dust disks .

Kiloparsec-scale stellar disks , bars , and nuclear stellar disks are seen in 60 % of galaxies with intermediate luminosity ( -20 \lesssim M _ { B } \lesssim - 17 ) .
In at least one case ( VCC 1938 = NGC 4638 ) , the large-scale stellar disk has a sharp inner edge , possibly produced when disk instabilities led to the formation of a ( now dissolved ) bar .
This process might indeed be seen unfolding in one galaxy , VCC 1537 ( =NGC 4528 ) .
A spiral structure might be present in VCC 1199 , an elliptical companion of M49 .
In dwarf galaxies , spiral structures are confirmed in VCC 856 and detected for the first time in VCC 1695 .

Surface brightness profiles , ellipticities , major axis position angles , and isophotal shapes are derived typically within 8 kpc from the center for the brightest galaxies , and 1.5 kpc for the faintest systems , with a resolution ( FWHM ) of 7 pc .
For all but 10 of the galaxies , the surface brightness profiles are well described by a Sérsic model with index n which increases steadily from the fainter to the brightest galaxies .
In agreement with previous claims , the inner profiles ( typically within 100 pc of the center ) of eight of the 10 brightest galaxies , to which we will refer as “ core ” galaxies , are lower than expected based on an extrapolation of the outer Sérsic model , and are better described by a single power-law function .
Core galaxies are clearly distinct in having fainter central surface brightness , \mu _ { 0 } , and shallower logarithmic slope of the inner surface brightness profile , \gamma , than expected based on the extrapolation of the trend followed by the rest of the sample , for which both \mu _ { 0 } and \gamma increase steadily with galaxy magnitude .
Large-scale , global properties also set core galaxies apart : the effective radius in particular is found to be almost one order of magnitude larger than for only slightly less luminous non-core galaxies .
Contrary to previous claims , we find no evidence in support of a strong bimodal behavior of the inner profile slope , \gamma ; in particular the \gamma distribution for galaxies which do not show evidence of multiple morphological components ( disks or bars ) is unimodal across the entire magnitude range ( a factor 460 in B - band luminosity ) spanned by the ACSVCS galaxies .
Although core galaxies have shallow inner profiles , the shallowest profiles ( lowest \gamma values ) are found in faint dwarf systems .
The widely adopted separation of early-type galaxies between “ core ” and “ power-law ” types , which had originally been prompted by the claim of a clear bimodal distribution of \gamma values , is therefore untenable based on the present study .

Once core galaxies are removed , dwarf and bright ellipticals display a continuum in their morphological parameters , contradicting some previous beliefs that the two belong to structurally distinct classes .
However , dwarfs span a wider range in morphological characteristics than brighter systems : their surface brightness profiles vary from exponential to almost r ^ { 1 / 4 } laws , they comprise both nucleated and non-nucleated varieties , and several systems display evidence of disks , spiral structures and recent star formation .
This is taken as evidence that dwarf galaxies , as currently classified , form a heterogeneous class .