ARAGO: a robotic observatrory for the variable sky

Michel Boer (1) , Agnes Acker (2) , Jean-Luc Atteia (3) , Gilles Buchholtz (4) , François Colas (5) , Magali Deleuil , Michel Dennefeld (6) , Jean-Michel Désert (6) , Noël Dolez , J. Eysseric , Roger Ferlet , Marc Ferrari (7) , Pierre Jean (3) , Alain Klotz (3) , Driss Kouach , Alain Lecavelier Des Etangs , Gérard R. Lemaître (7) , Alexandre Marcowith (3) , Jean-Baptiste Marquette , Jean-Pierre Meunier , Robert Mochkovitch , Reynald Pain (8) , Laurent P. Parès , Henri Pinna , Roger Pinna (9) , Lionel Provost , Sylvie Roques (10) , Jean Schneider (10) , Jean-Pierre Sivan , Caroline Soubiran , Carole Thiebaut , Gérard Vauclair , Richard Verchere (9) , A. Vidal-Madjar

1 CNRS/ULP, UMR 7175-LC1, Ecole Supérieure de Biotechnologie de Strasbourg, Bld. Sébastien Brandt BP. 10413, F-67412 Illkirch, France.
2 ObAS - Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg
3 CESR - Centre d'étude spatiale des rayonnements
4 INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers
5 IMCCE - Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides
6 IAP - Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
7 OAMP - Observatoire Astronomique de Marseille Provence
8 UN - Université de Nantes
9 ISAE-SUPAERO - Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace
10 LAB - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux [Pessac]

We present the Advanced Robotic Agile Observatory (ARAGO), a project for a large variability survey of the sky, in the range 10^-8Hz (year) to 1Hz. Among its scientific objectives are the detection of cosmic gamma-ray bursts, both on alert and serendipitously, orphan afterglows, extrasolar planets, AGNs, quasar microlensing, variable and flare stars, trans-neptunian asteroids, Earth-grazers, orbital debris, etc. A large Education and Public Outreach program will be an important part of the project. The telescope itself will be made of Silicon Carbide, allowing, among other advantages, a very light weight and agile capabilities. ARAGO will be fully autonomous, i.e. there will be no human intervention from the request to the data processing and result dissemination, nor to assist night or day operations. ARAGO will start routine observation by mid-2005.

Domaines: Astrophysique [astro-ph]

Michel Boer, Agnes Acker, Jean-Luc Atteia, Gilles Buchholtz, François Colas, et al.. ARAGO: a robotic observatrory for the variable sky. Survey and Other Telescope Technologies and Discoveries, Aug 2002, Waikoloa, Hawaii, United States. pp.138-145, ⟨10.1117/12.457013⟩. ⟨hal-03692202⟩