Galactic Globular and Open Clusters in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. III. Horizontal Branch Stars and Mass Loss in NGC 6791

We present a set of fiducial sequences of horizontal-branch stars in bright Galactic globular clusters, which have previously been observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We derive fiducial lines on color-magnitude diagrams in multiple color indices (g - r, g - i, g - z, and u - g), after rejecting foreground and background objects as well as RR Lyrae variables utilizing these color indices. We compare our fiducial sequences with model predictions from Yonsei-Yale evolutionary tracks and BaSel spectral libraries, and find a satisfactory agreement between them in terms of their color-magnitude relations, except in u - g. We also compare theoretical models to color-magnitude diagrams of two open clusters (M67 and NGC 6791). Based on our best available cluster distance and reddening, we find that the mass of red clump (RC) stars in NGC 6791 is about a factor of two smaller than an earlier estimate from the application of asteroseismic scaling relations for solar-like oscillations. The smaller RC mass implies an enhanced mass loss along the red giant branch, which is in accordance with other compelling evidences found in this metal-rich system. Our estimated luminosity of RC stars in NGC 6791 is about 0.2 mag fainter than in earlier investigations based on solar-metallicity calibrations, and results in ~10% reduction in the RC-based distance estimation, when applied to metal-rich systems such as in the Galactic bulge.