Atlas142 of 3,942

Butterfly IVb.11.A

From Šuvakov & Dmitrašinović (2013). Sequences of orbits from the Belgrade three-body gallery.

Butterfly IVb.11.A is a periodic orbit of the planar three-body problem: three equal masses that return to their starting positions and velocities every 41.789 time units, published by Šuvakov & Dmitrašinović (2013). A second butterfly sequence with a different topology from class I. It is linearly stable (largest Floquet multiplier 1.000), so a small nudge only makes it wobble. The bodies pass within 0.00035 of each other at a top speed of 53.5, line up 80 times a period, and the computed loop closes to 9.4×10⁻²⁵.

Measured over one period

Period: 41.78851914
Masses: 1 : 1 : 1
Energy: -1.95885
Angular momentum: 0
Closest approach: 3.5×10⁻⁴
Top speed: 53.48
Path length: 108.15
Alignments per period: 80
Topology: ababABAbabaBABAbabaBABAbabaBABababABABababABAB (free-group class)
Stability: stable (|λ|max 1.000)
Loop closure: 9.4×10⁻²⁵

Neighbours on the map

All Butterfly IVb orbits, the families of periodic three-body orbits, or the atlas map.