The Cosmological Red Shift

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Changing Red Shifts into Recessional Speeds

In OQ 172, the Lyman Alpha wavelength of hydrogen is shifted from the normal (unshifted) 1216 Å (Angstroms, or 10 times the measurement in nm) to about 5508 Å, a change in wavelength of 4292 Å. Plug this data into the form below to find out how fast OQ 172 is receding. The object with the greatest known red shift is PC 1247+3406. Its Lyman Alpha line is at about 5955 Å rather than the unshifted value of 1216 Å. How fast is it receding?

Enter:
Change in wavelength in Å
Unshifted wavelength in Å
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= Å
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