Atlas126 of 3,942

Butterfly IVb.3.A

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

Butterfly IVb.3.A is a periodic orbit of the planar three-body problem: three equal masses that return to their starting positions and velocities every 13.867 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 0.00834 of each other at a top speed of 11, line up 24 times a period, and the computed loop closes to 1.9×10⁻²⁷.

Measured over one period

Period: 13.86712344
Masses: 1 : 1 : 1
Energy: -1.84677
Angular momentum: 0
Closest approach: 0.008337
Top speed: 10.96
Path length: 36.625
Alignments per period: 24
Topology: ababABAbabaBAB (free-group class)
Stability: stable (|λ|max 1.000, published)
Loop closure: 1.9×10⁻²⁷

Neighbours on the map

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