In vacuum, the H-alpha line has a rest-frame wavelength of 656.461 nm. You took a spectrum of the center of a galaxy at an observatory on the ground and measured a wavelength of 656.65 nm for the H-alpha line. What is the radial velocity of the galaxy relative to the observer [km/s]? Note that the index of refraction of air is 1.0003 at that wavelength. As a result, the rest-frame wavelength of the H-alpha line in air differs from the rest-frame wavelength in vacuum.

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In vacuum, the H-alpha line has a rest-frame wavelength of 656.461 nm. You took a spectrum of the center of a galaxy at an observatory on the ground and measured a wavelength of 656.65 nm for the H-alpha line. What is the radial velocity of the galaxy relative to the observer [km/s]? Note that the index of refraction of air is 1.0003 at that wavelength. As a result, the rest-frame wavelength of the H-alpha line in air differs from the rest-frame wavelength in vacuum.

 
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