The heart-shaped line on this T-shirt is the "light curve of a star named KIC12253350. To understand where it came from, you need to know what a light curve is and what the NASA Kepler mission does (KIC is the "Kepler Input Catalog" of stars). The Kepler Space Telescope is supplying some of the finest and most precise data on variations in brightness of stars ever achieved by humans. The Kepler mission team displays the variations in brightness in a graph of brightness versus time, known as a light curve. One Kepler scientist looked at the light curve of KIC12253350 and thought that a section of it looked like a heart. That's what you'll be wearing. Perfect for Valentine's Day, but stylish on any occasion. To learn more about the Kepler mission, visit http://kepler.nasa.gov.

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