A 140 Mpc Oscillation of the Abell Cluster Correlation Function

Abstract

We have developed a parameter-independent method to detect local maxima of the two-point correlation function. By applying it to two samples of rich Abell clusters of galaxies with redshift limits z<0.08 and z<0.12 we detect three maxima centered at 150 Mpc, 300 Mpc and 430 Mpc with confidence levels 80% and higher. This sequence of fluctuations has an average interval of 140 Mpc, that can be explained by a power spectrum with a distinct peak at k=0.048+-0.005/Mpc.

8 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript, includes 6 figures, submitted to ApJ, abbreviated for the proceedings of the XXXth Moriond meeting