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The phrase signatures of formation is used to indicate observable or retrievable qualities, e.g., through spectroscopy and/or retrieval, that suggest how an astronomical entity was formed, such as a star, planet, stellar cluster, galaxy, or bulge. A long history might be suggested, i.e., a specific sequence of events leading to specific abundances. A simple example is the uniformity of abundances in the solar system, including that of the Sun, which suggests it all formed from a single cloud and event.