After three years of scouring the universe for evidence of the most distant galaxies, the Herschel Space Observatory is running out of fuel.

The European Space Agency launched the craft in 2009 with some of the most advanced light-sensing equipment ever developed. Only when it got above Earth’s clouds would Herschel be able to peer into deep space, up to 10 billion light years away.

The module was named after William Heschel, who discovered Uranus back in 1781, in hopes that new technology to see past interference like dust, asteroids and clouds, might yield some clues about the far reaches of the universe.

Over those three years, Herschel has radioed back some astounding data. From millions of miles away, it could spot