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A study led by the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) in Portugal, which also involves researchers from the NCCR PlanetS at the University of Bern and the University of Zürich, published on October 15, 2021, in the journal Science, provides the first empirical evidence for this assumption – and at the same time partially contradicts it. Nevertheless, assumptions, especially in astrophysics, do not always prove to be true. The assumption of a connection between the composition of stars and their planets is therefore reasonable and is confirmed, for example, in the solar system by most rocky planets (Mercury being the exception). In the course of the formation process, some of the material condenses and forms rocky planets, the rest is either accumulated by the star or becomes part of gaseous planets. Stars and planets are formed from the same cosmic gas and dust. For the first time now, a team of scientists, with the participation of researchers of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS from the University of Bern and the University of Zürich, deliver empirical evidence to support the assumption – and partly contradict it at the same time.
![star compositions star compositions](http://www.astronoo.com/images/etoiles/sirius.jpg)
Credit: © Tania Cunha (Planetário do Porto – Centro Ciência Viva & Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço)Ī compositional link between planets and their respective host star has long been assumed in astronomy. Illustration of planet formation around a Sun-like star, with the building blocks of the planets – rocks and iron molecules – in the foreground.