The KML Handbook: Geographic Visualization for the Web

Appendix B. Sky Data in KML

You can create KML files that display objects in the sky, such as stars, constellations, planets, the Earth’s moon, and galaxies. This appendix explains how to create a KML file to display celestial data in an Earth browser that supports Sky data, such as Google Earth or Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope. Specifically, you’ll need to do the following:

• Add a hint attribute to the <kml> element at the beginning of the KML file to indicate that the file contains sky data, not Earth data

• Convert celestial coordinates to Earth-based KML coordinates