  The energy spectra of the $\alpha$ particles emitted in the reactions
$^{16}$O (7-10 MeV/nucleon) + $^{12}$C have been measured in the center of mass
angular range of 25$^\circ$ $\lesssim \theta_{c.m.} \lesssim$ 70$^\circ$. The
experimental energy spectra have been compared with those obtained from the
statistical model calculation with "deformability" parameters predicted by
rotating liquid drop model (RLDM) and also fitted the same with optimized
"deformability" parameters, which are quite different from the respective RLDM
values. The data have also been found to be explained quite well using "frozen"
deformation approximation, where the "deformability" parameters have been kept
fixed at RLDM values of the parent nucleus throughout the decay process. The
effective radius in the latter case is smaller compared to that obtained using
the optimized parameters; however, in both cases, the deformations (effective
radii) are larger than the corresponding RLDM values. So, considering the
uncertainties in the estimation of actual compound nucleus deformations, it
can, only qualitatively, be said that equilibrium orbiting, which is similar to
particle evaporation in time scale, could also be one of the contributing
factors for the observed deformation.
