The peculiar characteristics of Uranus’ moons have been a topic of debate in astronomy for decades. Using of state-of-the-art supercomputing and interdisciplinary expertise, researchers of the University of Zurich, who are part of the National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS, have proposed a detailed answer in a new study.

A compositional link between planets and their respective host star has long been assumed in astronomy. 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 Zurich and the University of Bern, have delivered empirical evidence to support the assumption – and partly contradict it at the same time.