Fast Shape Estimation for Galaxies and Stars
  Model fitting is frequently used to determine the shape of galaxies and the
point spread function, for examples, in weak lensing analyses or morphology
studies aiming at probing the evolution of galaxies. However, the number of
parameters in the model, as well as the number of objects, are often so large
as to limit the use of model fitting for future large surveys. In this article,
we propose a set of algorithms to speed up the fitting process. Our approach is
divided into three distinctive steps: centroiding, ellipticity measurement, and
profile fitting. We demonstrate that we can derive the position and ellipticity
of an object analytically in the first two steps and thus leave only a small
number of parameters to be derived through model fitting. The position,
ellipticity, and shape parameters can then used in constructing orthonomal
basis functions such as s\'ersiclets for better galaxy image reconstruction. We
assess the efficiency and accuracy of the algorithms with simulated images. We
have not taken into account the deconvolution of the point spread function,
which most weak lensing analyses do.
