Deprojecting edge-on disk galaxies

The results of a pilot study on the intrinsic 3D distribution of stars in edge-on disk galaxies are presented. The 3D disk structure of a sample of 12 edge-on galaxies has been reconstructed through a direct deprojection of the observed two-dimensional images. The deprojection method - which utilises the so called Fourier slice theorem and assumes axial symmetry - has been tested with a large set of artificial galaxy models seen under a variety of inclinations (i = 80-90) and with different spatial dust and optical depths distributions.