After years of waiting, the time has come in mid-December: the James Webb Space Telescope will be launched. This infrared big brother of the Hubble Telescope is going to greatly increase our knowledge of many areas within astronomy. From the chemical composition of the atmospheres of exoplanets to the formation of the first galaxies shortly after the Big Bang. Webb is going to improve all existing measurements by at least a factor of 10. But how does the telescope do that? Why is it called Webb, anyway? And why did we have to wait so long for it? Groningen-based SRON astronomer Floris van der Tak is a member of the Origins Center Netherlands. He explains.
