National Aures Observatory: A new multimessenger facility
Résumé
Algeria has taken upon itself to build a new astronomical observatory in the Aliness region in the Aures Mountains in Eastern Algeria to serve the aspirations of the Algerian astronomical community and also to open up for international projects. This Observatory will be mainly dedicated to multimessenger astronomy and the study of transient astronomical phenomena (optical counterparts of gravitational waves, GRBs, asteroid tracking, …), but it will also have other secondary objectives such as the study of early phases of super novae, Space Situational Awareness like surveillance programs, variable stars, exoplanets … In this paper, we describe the main scientific objectives of the National Aures Observatory as well as the rational for the choice of the Aliness region as the main candidate site for setting up the observatory. We will also present statistical cloud coverage from the analysis of EUMETSAT cloud data and will conclude with the present statute of the Observatory and the different stages for its construction