Carbon and late M-type stars in the Magellanic Clouds

Identification charts, coordinates, and R and I photometric measurements are presented for 320 carbon stars and 107 giant M stars later than type M5 found in five sample (0.12 square degrees) areas in the two Magellanic Clouds. The carbon stars are found to be far more abundant relative to the M giants in the SMC than in the LMC, and they show a single-mode luminosity distribution with a mean I magnitude of -4.6. The differences in mean I magnitudes between the clouds suggest a distance modulus difference of 0.51 + or - 0.03.