Frequently Asked Questions |
This FAQ is dedicated to the UFO@home Sighting sub-project. See the UFO@home project FAQ for answers to more high-level questions.
The sighting report applet aims to represent what the witness have seen. This is literaly a visual reconstitution of the image the witness received, which is 2D by nature. The sighting object(s) might be 3-dimensional, but that kind of interpretation is the job of researchers, not the goal of the tool.
By the way, note that the applet aims to represent in 3 dimensions what it knowns for sure as of 3-dimensional nature : the celestial sphere with stars, planets and Moon, and the known direct environment of the witness (roads, buildings, etc.).
Java is a programming language but also a software runtime platform which is available on many hardware (PC, PDAs/Handhelds, mainframes, etc.), and operating systems (Windows, Unix, etc.). An applet is a client-side Java program that is able to run on Java-enabled browsers, like Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Mozilla, Opera, and so on.
Limiting the sighting report applet code to Java 1.1 allows it to run in the most popular browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer) without requiring witness to download any other program or plugin. This is a critical benefit that meets the project requirement for the larger audience as possible. Limiting to Java 1.1 also allow the code to comply with Java running on handeld devices like PDAs or PocketPCs (i.e. J2ME CDC Personal Profile).