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Choreography SC.271

From Simó (2001)

Choreography SC.271 is a periodic orbit of the planar three-body problem: three equal masses that return to their starting positions and velocities every 16.183 time units, published by Simó (2001). Carles Simó’s catalogue of three-body choreographies with nonzero angular momentum, the curves that made choreographies famous. All unstable except the figure-eight. It is unstable (largest Floquet multiplier 9.7536e+22), so a small nudge makes it unravel over a few periods. The bodies pass within 0.0456 of each other at a top speed of 4.63, line up 66 times a period, and the computed loop closes to 6.7×10⁻⁷.

Measured over one period

Period: 16.18303980
Masses: 1 : 1 : 1
Energy: -4.50000
Angular momentum: 1.0178
Closest approach: 0.04560
Top speed: 4.627
Path length: 77.813
Alignments per period: 66
Topology: aaaaaaaabAbAbAbAbAbAbAbABBBBBBBB (free-group class, read from the drawing)
Stability: unstable (|λ|max 9.8×10²²)
Loop closure: 6.7×10⁻⁷

Neighbours on the map

All Simó’s choreographies, the families of periodic three-body orbits, or the atlas map.