---
title: "An astronomer analyzes the intensity spectra of blackbody radiation emitted by two stars, Star X and Star Y. As shown in the graph, the spectrum for Star X reaches peak intensity at a wavelength of \\(\\lambda_X = 400 \\text{ nm}\\), while the spectrum for Star Y reaches peak intensity at a wavelength of \\(\\lambda_Y = 600 \\text{ nm}\\). What is the ratio \\(\\dfrac{T_X}{T_Y}\\) of the absolute surface temperature of Star X to the absolute surface temperature of Star Y?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/116567/"
date_modified: "2026-08-04T05:02:38+00:00"
---

# An astronomer analyzes the intensity spectra of blackbody radiation emitted by two stars, Star X and Star Y. As shown in the graph, the spectrum for Star X reaches peak intensity at a wavelength of \(\lambda_X = 400 \text{ nm}\), while the spectrum for Star Y reaches peak intensity at a wavelength of \(\lambda_Y = 600 \text{ nm}\). What is the ratio \(\dfrac{T_X}{T_Y}\) of the absolute surface temperature of Star X to the absolute surface temperature of Star Y?

An astronomer analyzes the intensity spectra of blackbody radiation emitted by two stars, Star X and Star Y. As shown in the graph, the spectrum for Star X reaches peak intensity at a wavelength of \(\lambda_X = 400 \text{ nm}\), while the spectrum for Star Y reaches peak intensity at a wavelength of \(\lambda_Y = 600 \text{ nm}\). What is the ratio \(\dfrac{T_X}{T_Y}\) of the absolute surface temperature of Star X to the absolute surface temperature of Star Y?

![A graph of blackbody radiation intensity versus wavelength \(\lambda\). The horizontal axis is labeled Wavelength \(\lambda \text{ (nm)}\) with numerical tick marks at 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1000. The vertical axis is labeled Intensity \(I\) without numerical values. Two smooth blackbody curves are shown. Curve X rises from the origin, reaches its maximum height at wavelength \(\lambda = 400 \text{ nm}\), and decays toward longer wavelengths. Curve Y rises to a lower maximum height at wavelength \(\lambda = 600 \text{ nm}\) and decays toward longer wavelengths. A vertical dashed line connects the peak of Curve X to the tick mark at 400, and a vertical dashed line connects the peak of Curve Y to the tick mark at 600. Curve X is labeled Star X near its peak, and Curve Y is labeled Star Y near its peak. No other labels, lines, text, or axes appear.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-fig-1-1785819758-cGRQ8N.jpg)

- **A.** \(\dfrac{2}{3}\)
- **B.** \(\dfrac{3}{2}\)
- **C.** \(\dfrac{9}{4}\)
- **D.** 3

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/116567/*