Atlas150 of 3,942

Butterfly IVb.24.A

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

Butterfly IVb.24.A is a periodic orbit of the planar three-body problem: three equal masses that return to their starting positions and velocities every 79.475 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 0.0000288 of each other at a top speed of 187, line up 172 times a period, and the computed loop closes to 1.5×10⁻²².

Measured over one period

Period: 79.47495390
Masses: 1 : 1 : 1
Energy: -2.11338
Angular momentum: 0
Closest approach: 2.9×10⁻⁵
Top speed: 186.5
Path length: 204.79
Alignments per period: 172
Topology: ababaBABAbabaBABAbabaBABAbabaBABAbabaBABAbabaBABAbababABABababABABababABABababABABababABABababABAB (free-group class)
Stability: stable (|λ|max 1.000, published)
Loop closure: 1.5×10⁻²²

Neighbours on the map

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