An Empirical Tool to Derive Metallicity, Reddening, and Distance for Old Stellar Populations from Near-Infrared Color-Magnitude Diagrams

We present an empirical method to derive photometric metallicity, reddening, and distance to old stellar populations by using a few major features of the red giant branch (RGB) in near-IR color-magnitude diagrams. We combine the observed RGB features with a set of equations linking the global metallicity [M/H] to suitable RGB parameters (colors, magnitudes, and slope), as calibrated from a homogeneous sample of Galactic globular clusters with different metallicities. This technique can be applied to efficiently derive the main population parameters of old stellar systems, with the goal of using ground-based adaptive optics and space facilities to probe the stellar content of remote galaxies.