ON THE STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE GALAXY DISTRIBUTION

In this paper, we compare the statistical properties of the galaxy distribution in the northern and southern hemispheres, using the redshift catalogs of the CfA Redshift Survey and the Southern Sky Redshift Survey. These surveys probe comparable volumes of space, allowing us to examine whether the spatial distribution of galaxies in these samples has the same general characteristics. In spite of apparent differences in the clustering pattern, as perceived from a visual inspection of the redshift maps, the results obtained from the application of several statistical indicators to volume-limited samples drawn from both data sets indicate that the clustering properties are, on scales less than about 10h-1 Mpc (H0 = 100h km s-1 Mpc-1), essentially indistinguishable. The reproducibility of the results obtained from different diagnostics justifies the earlier use of the CfA sample to confront real and model distributions of N-body simulations. We also discuss differences on a scale of 60h-1 Mpc probably resulting from sampling effects.