On the origin of eccentricities among extrasolar planets

Most observed extrasolar planets have masses similar to, but orbits very different from, the gas giants of our Solar system. Many are much closer to their parent stars than would have been expected and their orbits are often rather eccentric. We show that some of these planets might have formed in systems much like our Solar system, i.e. in systems where the gas giants were originally on orbits with a semimajor axis of several au, but where the masses of the gas giants were all rather similar. If such a system is perturbed by another star, strong planet–planet interactions follow, causing the ejection of several planets while leaving those remaining on much tighter and more eccentric orbits. The eccentricity distribution of these perturbed systems is very similar to that of the observed extrasolar planets with semimajor axis between 1 and 6 au.