The palomar distant cluster survey .2. The cluster profiles

We present a study of the surface density profiles of the clusters of galaxies from the Palomar Distant Cluster Survey (Postman et al. 1996). The survey contains a total of 79 clusters of galaxies, covering the estimated redshift range of 0.2 less than or similar to z less than or similar to 1.2. We have analyzed the richest clusters in this sample and find that the typical Palomar cluster has a surface density profile of r(-1.4) (r greater than or equal to 0.10h(-1) Mpc) and a core radius of 0.05h(-1) Mpc. There may be an indication that the slope of the surface density profile steepens with increasing redshift, though the observational uncertainty is at present too large to be conclusive. Our cluster population is inconsistent at a 99.9% confidence level with a population of azimuthally symmetric clusters. (C) 1996 American Astronomical Society.