MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — An astrophysicist from the University of Minnesota who has spent 14 winters in Antarctica tending to a telescope plans to step away from his research after the instrument is replaced.

Minnesota Public Radio reports that the university will begin the replacing the telescope and mount at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station this month.

University astrophysicist Robert Schwarz says he’ll stay through the replacement process but doesn’t plan to return. He’s overseen the telescope maintenance, trekking out in temperatures as low as minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit to check on the instrument.

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This week’s announcement? One of the closest stars to Earth has a super-Earth companion—Barnard’s star is a red dwarf that is only six light years from our Solar System. Only the three stars of the Centauri system are closer.

A large planet appears to be orbiting out near the system’s snow line.

NASA and Northrop Grumman have made the decision to fly the L-1011 Stargazer and Pegasus XL rocket carrying NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, spacecraft back to its integration facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The ferry flight will take place early next week. Returning to the environmentally-controlled integration facility allows the team to further investigate off-nominal data observed during the Nov. 7 launch attempt.

Once the investigation is complete, a new launch date will be determined. ICON will launch out of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The ICON spacecraft, which uses Northrop Grumman’s LEOStar-2 platform, is monitored at all times and remains healthy.

And, even with all we know, what still remains unexplained?

It’s time to take the next great leap in exploration. We are NASA.

The best time to see the meteor showers will be between midnight and dawn on both mornings, wherever you are in the world. If you live in an urban area, you may want to drive to a place that isn’t littered with city lights that will obstruct your view.

Find an open area with a wide view of the sky, and don’t forget to bundle up. If you want to photograph the Leonid meteor shower, NASA suggests using a camera with manual focus on a tripod with a shutter release cable or built-in timer, fitted with a wide-angle lens.