2002AJ....123.3305L

We present JHK photometry of Palomar 6. Our photometric measurements range from the red giant branch (RGB) tip to ~2 mag below the red horizontal branch (RHB), and our color-magnitude diagrams show that Palomar 6 appears to have a well-defined RHB population. The distance modulus and interstellar reddening of the cluster are estimated by comparing the magnitude and color of Palomar 6 RHB stars with those of 47 Tuc. We obtain (m-M)₀=14.28 mag and E(B-V)=1.30 mag for the cluster, and our study suggests that Palomar 6 is clearly located in the Galaxy's central regions. We also discuss the metallicity of the cluster using the slope of the RGB. We obtain [Fe/H]~-1.2 for Palomar 6 and our metallicity estimate is ~0.5-1.0 dex lower than previous estimates by others.