ARAGO: a robotic observatrory for the variable sky

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.