SAMPLING OF GLOBULAR-CLUSTERS AND THE DISTANCE TO THE GALACTIC-CENTER.1. DATA DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS

A recent compilation of globular cluster data [Harris, private communi cation (1991)] has been examined for the purpose of selecting a suffic iently large set of globular clusters with reliable distance estimates . The absolute differences between recent and past estimates of the cl uster parameters V(HB) and E(B - V) have been studied in statistically representative (but not mutually exclusive) subsets; resulting in a c onservative estimate of the average distance modulus error of 0.40m fo r a total selected sample of 134 objects. The effects of spatial and m etallicity segregation on the statistics of this sample are investigat ed. The adopted distance scale uses consistent correction terms for me tallicity and reddening according to the precepts in Racine & Harris [ AJ, 98, 1609 (1989)]. From a direct comparison with the spatial config uration of clusters derived in the past, random observational errors a re shown to dominate the uncertainties in locating the clusters along their lines of sight.