Atlas138 of 3,942

Butterfly IVb.7.A

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

Butterfly IVb.7.A is a periodic orbit of the planar three-body problem: three equal masses that return to their starting positions and velocities every 27.823 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 0.00107 of each other at a top speed of 30.6, line up 52 times a period, and the computed loop closes to 3.3×10⁻²⁵.

Measured over one period

Period: 27.82341433
Masses: 1 : 1 : 1
Energy: -1.93161
Angular momentum: 0
Closest approach: 0.001070
Top speed: 30.57
Path length: 72.517
Alignments per period: 52
Topology: ababABAbabaBABAbabaBABababABAB (free-group class)
Stability: stable (|λ|max 1.000, published)
Loop closure: 3.3×10⁻²⁵

Neighbours on the map

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