THE STELLAR DISTRIBUTION OF THE GLOBULAR CLUSTER M 55

We have used extensive V , I photometry (down to V =2 0 :9) of 33615 stars in the direction of the globular cluster M 55 to study the dynamical interaction of this cluster with the tidal elds of the Galaxy. An entire quadrant of the cluster has been covered, out to ' 1:5 times the tidal radius. A CMD down to about 4 magnitudes below the turn-off is presented and analysed. A large population of BS has been identied. The BS are signicantly more concentrated than the other cluster stars in the inner 300 arcsec, while they become less concentrated in the cluster envelope. We have obtained luminosity functions at various radial in- tervals from the center and their corresponding mass functions. Both clearly show the presence of mass segregation inside the cluster. A dynamical analysis shows that the observed mass segregation is compatible with what is predicted by multi-mass King-Michie models. The global mass function is very flat with a power-law slope of x = 1:0 0:4. This suggest that M 55 might have suffered selective losses of stars, caused by tidal interactions with the Galactic disk and bulge. The radial density prole of M 55 out to 2 rt suggests thepresenceofextra-tidalstarswhosenaturecouldbeconnected with the cluster.