Atlas148 of 3,942

Butterfly IVb.23.B

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

Butterfly IVb.23.B is a periodic orbit of the planar three-body problem: three equal masses that return to their starting positions and velocities every 92.185 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 1.170), so a small nudge makes it unravel over a few periods. The bodies pass within 0.0000324 of each other at a top speed of 176, line up 164 times a period, and the computed loop closes to 1.6×10⁻¹⁹.

Measured over one period

Period: 92.18530291
Masses: 1 : 1 : 1
Energy: -1.86170
Angular momentum: 0
Closest approach: 3.2×10⁻⁵
Top speed: 175.7
Path length: 229.29
Alignments per period: 164
Topology: ababABAbabaBABAbabaBABAbabaBABAbabaBABababABABababABABababABABababABABababABABababABABababABAB (free-group class)
Stability: weakly unstable (|λ|max 1.170)
Loop closure: 1.6×10⁻¹⁹

Neighbours on the map

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