Identifying common galaxy spectral lines How does one identify the common galaxy absorption lines (e.g. Na, Mg, K, etc.) and emission lines (H-alpha, O III, S II, etc.) by just looking at a galaxy spectrum (like the one below)? I need to know how to do this because I want to calculate the redshifts of galaxies using the emitted wavelengths from the SDSS table.
You need to compare it with the spectrum of a similar galaxy at a known redshift, that would probably enable you to identify features with known rest wavelengths.

If you can find such a template, then the best way of estimating a redshift for a galaxy spectrum like this, consisting of mostly weak and blended absorption features, is to cross-correlate your template galaxy with this one. The cross-correlation "lag" gives you the difference in redshift.