Chemical clues on the formation of planetary systems

Theoretical studies suggest that C/O and Mg/Si are the most important elemental ratios in determining the mineralogy of terrestrial planets. The C/O ratio controls the distribution of Si among carbide and oxide species, while Mg/Si gives information about the silicate mineralogy. We find mineralogical ratios quite different from those of the Sun, showing that there is a wide variety of planetary systems which are not similar to Solar System. Many of planetary host stars present a Mg/Si value lower than 1, so their planets will have a high Si content to form species such as MgSiO₃. This type of composition can have important implications for planetary processes like plate tectonics, atmospheric composition or volcanism. Moreover, the information given by these ratios can guide us in the search of stars more probable to form terrestrial planets.