We present a detailed analysis of the "second-parameter pair" of globular
clusters M3 (NGC 5272) and Palomar 3. Our main results can be summarized as
follows: i) The horizontal-branch (HB) morphology of M3 is significantly bluer
in its inner regions (observed with the Hubble Space Telescope) than in the
cluster outskirts (observed from the ground), i.e., M3 has an internal second
parameter. Most plausibly the mass loss on the red giant branch (RGB) has been
more efficient in the inner than in the outer regions of the cluster. ii) The
dispersion in mass of the Pal 3 HB is found to be very small -- consistent with
zero -- and we argue that this is unlikely to be due to a statistical
fluctuation. It is this small mass dispersion that leads to the most apparent
difference in the HB morphologies of M3 and Pal 3. iii) The relative HB types
of M3 and Pal 3, as measured by mean colors or parameters involving the number
of blue, variable, and red HB stars, can easily be accounted for by a fairly
small difference in age between these clusters, of order 0.5-1 Gyr -- which is
in good agreement with the relative age measurement, based on the clusters'
turnoffs, by VandenBerg (2000).Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, emulateapj5 style. The Astrophysical Journal,
in press. Figs. 1, 6, 9, 10 are in png format. The preprint (postscript
format) with full resolution (embedded) figures is available from
http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~mc6v