Comparative planetary science closest analogue is the Pluto-Charon system, though its axial tilt is completely different. Both our Moon and Charon are hypothesized to have formed via giant impacts. Giant impacts are hypothesized to account for both the tilt of Uranus, and the retrograde rotation of Venus. Giant impacts are also candidates for the Mars ocean hypothesis, and the high density of Mercury. Most giant planets (except Neptune) have retinues of moons, rings, ring shepherds, and moon Trojans analogous to mini-solar systems. These systems are postulated to have accreted from analogous gas clouds, and possibly with analogous migrations during their formation periods. The
Formation and evolution of the Solar System owe its substantially lower mass simply to having formed a few million years after Jupiter, when there was less gas available to consume. T Tauri stars like the young Sun have far stronger stellar winds than more stable, older stars. Uranus and Neptune are thought to have formed after Jupiter and Saturn did, when the strong solar wind had blown away much of the disc material. As a result, those planets accumulated little hydrogen and helium—not more than each. Uranus and Neptune are sometimes referred to as failed cores. The main problem with formation theories for these planets is the