It is argued that the differences between the ice giants and the gas giants arise from their formation history. The Solar System is hypothesised to have formed from a rotating disk of gas and dust known as the presolar nebula. Much of the nebula's gas, primarily hydrogen and helium, formed the Sun, and the dust grains collected together to form the first protoplanets. As the planets grew, some of them eventually accreted enough matter for their gravity to hold on to the nebula's leftover gas. The more gas they held onto, the larger they became; the larger they became, the more gas they held onto until a critical point was reached, and their size began to increase exponentially. The ice giants, with only a few Earth masses of nebular gas, never reached that critical point. Recent simulations of planetary migration have suggested that both ice giants formed closer to the Sun than their present positions, and moved outwards after formation (the Nice model).
It is argued that the differences between the ice giants and the gas giants arise from their formation history. The Solar System is hypothesised to have formed from a rotating disk .of gas and dust known as the presolar nebula. Much of the nebula's gas, primarily hydrogen and helium, formed the Sun, and the dust grains collected together to form the first protoplanets As the planets grew, some of them eventually accreted enough matter for their gravity to hold on to the nebula's leftover gas. The more gas they held onto, the larger they became; the larger they became, the more gas they held onto until a critical point was reached, and their size began to increase exponentially. The ice giants, with only a few Earth masses of nebular gas, never reached that critical point. Recent simulations of planetary migration have suggested that both ice giants formed closer to the Sun than their present positions, and moved outwards after formation (the Nice model).