The distribution of globular clusters associated with M 87 = NGC 4486.

Deep CCD observations are used to study the radial distribution and luminosity functions of globular clusters surrounding M87. No strong evidence for a systematic radial trend in the luminosity function is found. The data indicate that the run of globular cluster surface density with radius is considerably shallower than the galaxy luminosity profile in the same region, and that the surface-density profile in the region between 0.3 and 2.6 arcmin is shallower than the optimal fit to data at larger radii determined by previous investigators. Comparison of the observations with some simple dynamical models indicate that what is being observed is the core region of the cluster distribution, rather than the effects of such processes as dynamical friction and tidal disruption.