Atlas137 of 3,942

Butterfly IVb.18.A

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

Butterfly IVb.18.A is a periodic orbit of the planar three-body problem: three equal masses that return to their starting positions and velocities every 69.512 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 0.000192 of each other at a top speed of 72.2, line up 128 times a period, and the computed loop closes to 9.1×10⁻²⁴.

Measured over one period

Period: 69.51192629
Masses: 1 : 1 : 1
Energy: -1.91496
Angular momentum: 0
Closest approach: 1.9×10⁻⁴
Top speed: 72.21
Path length: 181.80
Alignments per period: 128
Topology: ababABAbabaBABAbabaBABababABABabaBABAbabaBABababABABababABAbabaBABAbabABAB (free-group class)
Stability: stable (|λ|max 1.000)
Loop closure: 9.1×10⁻²⁴

Neighbours on the map

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