Surface brightness profiles of galactic globular clusters.

We present surface brightness profiles for 28 galactic globular clusters. The profiles come from archival images of the WFPC2 camera on HST using a variety of filters. An important tool for studying any dynamical system is using the surface brightness profile to obtain the luminosity density. In particular, the central slope of the luminosity density profile can have a significant effect on the system evolution. The profiles are obtained by measuring residual light after subtracting the brightest stars, and combining this profile with that obtained from star counts. The clusters in our sample are reported to have a variety of surface brightness shapes, from core-collapse to very low concentration. The results show that the inner logarithmic slope for the luminosity density profile spans a continuous range from zero to 1.7 instead of dividing in flat cores and very steep profiles.