Excitation of Orbital Eccentricities of Extrasolar Planets by Repeated Resonance Crossings

Abstract

Orbits of known extrasolar planets that are located outside the tidal circularization regions of their parent stars are often substantially eccentric. By contrast, planetary orbits in our solar system are approximately circular, reflecting planet formation within a nearly axisymmetric, circumsolar disk. We propose that orbital eccentricities may be generated by the divergent orbital migration of two planets in a viscously accreting circumstellar disk. The migration is divergent in the sense that the ratio of the orbital period of the outer planet to that of the inner planet grows. As the period ratio diverges, the planets traverse, but are not captured into, a series of mean motion resonances that amplify their orbital eccentricities in rough inverse proportion to their masses. Strong viscosity gradients in protoplanetary disks offer a way to reconcile the circular orbits of solar system gas giants with the eccentric orbits of currently known extrasolar planets.