Three-Body Problem

Figure-eight periodic orbit + chaos explorer

t = 0.00
Figure-eight orbit (Chenciner & Montgomery, 2000): three equal masses chase each other on a single figure-eight curve. This is one of remarkably few known periodic solutions to the three-body problem. Switch to Random to see generic initial conditions — almost always chaotic, with bodies ejected or swapped. The Lagrange configuration (equilateral triangle rotating) is stable for mass ratio > 24.96. Newton's law of gravitation: F = Gm₁m₂/r² — no analytic general solution exists.