Atlas135 of 3,942

Butterfly IVb.15.G

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

Butterfly IVb.15.G is a periodic orbit of the planar three-body problem: three equal masses that return to their starting positions and velocities every 60.422 time units, published by Šuvakov & Dmitrašinović (2013). A second butterfly sequence with a different topology from class I. It is weakly unstable (largest Floquet multiplier 1.233), so a small nudge makes it unravel over a few periods. The bodies pass within 0.000438 of each other at a top speed of 47.8, line up 120 times a period, and the computed loop closes to 2.0×10⁻²⁵.

Measured over one period

Period: 60.42226443
Masses: 1 : 1 : 1
Energy: -2.02422
Angular momentum: 0
Closest approach: 4.4×10⁻⁴
Top speed: 47.82
Path length: 166.89
Alignments per period: 120
Topology: (ababABAbabaBAB)⁵ (free-group class)
Stability: weakly unstable (|λ|max 1.233)
Loop closure: 2.0×10⁻²⁵

Neighbours on the map

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