Atlas195 of 3,942

Moth VIIb.18.A

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

Moth VIIb.18.A is a periodic orbit of the planar three-body problem: three equal masses that return to their starting positions and velocities every 85.934 time units, published by Šuvakov & Dmitrašinović (2013). Related moths with a different winding of the outer lobes. It is weakly unstable (largest Floquet multiplier 5.479), so a small nudge makes it unravel over a few periods. The bodies pass within 0.00085 of each other at a top speed of 34.3, line up 118 times a period, and the computed loop closes to 3.0×10⁻²⁵.

Measured over one period

Period: 85.93439326
Masses: 1 : 1 : 1
Energy: -1.61513
Angular momentum: 0
Closest approach: 8.5×10⁻⁴
Top speed: 34.30
Path length: 228.14
Alignments per period: 118
Topology: abaBAbabABAbabABabaBABabaBAbabABAbabABAbaBABabaBABabABAbabABAbaBABabaBAB (free-group class)
Stability: weakly unstable (|λ|max 5.479)
Loop closure: 3.0×10⁻²⁵

Neighbours on the map

All Moth VIIb orbits, the families of periodic three-body orbits, or the atlas map.