M31 and M33 UBVRI photometry

We describe our data reduction and automated photometry techniques in some detail, as we will shortly perform a similar analysis of other Local Group galaxies. The present study covered 2.2deg^2^ along the major axis of M31 and 0.8deg^2^ on M33, chosen so as to include all of the regions currently active in forming massive stars.

We calibrated our data using photometry from the Lowell 1.1m telescope, and this external method resulted in millimagnitude differences in the photometry of overlapping fields, providing some assurance that our photometry is reliable. The final catalog contains 371781 and 146622 stars in M31 and M33, respectively, where every star has a counterpart in (at least) the B, V, and R passbands. Our survey goes deep enough to achieve 1%-2% photometry at 21mag (corresponding to stars more massive than 20M_{sun}_) and achieves <10% errors at ~U ~B ~V ~R ~I 23mag.