Atlas144 of 3,942

Butterfly IVb.18.B

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

Butterfly IVb.18.B is a periodic orbit of the planar three-body problem: three equal masses that return to their starting positions and velocities every 62.088 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 1.920), so a small nudge makes it unravel over a few periods. The bodies pass within 0.000663 of each other at a top speed of 38.9, line up 128 times a period, and the computed loop closes to 3.1×10⁻²⁵.

Measured over one period

Period: 62.08753020
Masses: 1 : 1 : 1
Energy: -2.06474
Angular momentum: 0
Closest approach: 6.6×10⁻⁴
Top speed: 38.86
Path length: 168.58
Alignments per period: 128
Topology: ababABAbabaBABAbabaBABababABABabaBABAbabaBABababABABababABAbabaBABAbabABAB (free-group class)
Stability: weakly unstable (|λ|max 1.920)
Loop closure: 3.1×10⁻²⁵

Neighbours on the map

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