Q: If our galaxy is hundreds of light years long and wide, how do they take pictures of it with a camera from that far away?
—Sherman Bennett, Roswell
A: Photos of our galaxy and others are taken with both earth-based telescopes and orbiting telescopes and spacecraft, David Dundee, the Astronomy Program Manager at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, told Q&A on the News in an email. "With space photography, it's not how far, but how bright the object is to image it," he said. "The Hubble Space Telescope has imaged objects some 12 billion light years away. But yet faint objects in our solar system have not been seen because they are too faint." Dundee said some telescopes can "see" objects – such as X-rays, Gamma rays and radio waves – that can't be detected by the human eye.
Q: Does Newt Gingrich receive any money from a Georgia teacher’s retirement, from social security or from a congressional pension?
—Lorraine Vinson, Rome
A: Gingrich reported a congressional pension of $76,200 on his 2010 tax returns, which he released in January. The returns stated that Gingrich and his wife, Callista, paid $994,708 in federal taxes from their adjusted gross income of $3,142,066 that year, according to media reports. Most of his reported income came from his ownership or partnership in private companies. That included his $252,500 annual salary from Gingrich Holdings, which is owned by Gingrich and his wife. Callista earned a salary of $191,827 from the company that year. Gingrich also counted $31,625 from speaking appearances and $10,000 in board of director fees.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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