Three-body periodic-orbit explorer
A real-time gravitational N = 3 simulator with three known periodic orbits. Select, drag and reposition bodies, zoom with the scroll wheel, and tune physics parameters with the control panels.
Notes
Three equal point masses interact via Newtonian gravity in normalized units (G = m = 1). The integrator is velocity-Verlet (second-order, time-reversible, symplectic), so energy errors stay bounded over very long runs rather than drifting secularly.
Most orbits below are written in the Šuvakov–Dmitrašinović isosceles form: bodies start at (±1, 0) and (0, 0) with momenta engineered so the centre of mass stays at the origin. Chenciner–Montgomery and Lagrange use their canonical analytic initial conditions.
- →PresetPick one of three orbit families
- →ScrollZoom in and out
- →Click bodySelect and reveal its properties panel
- →Drag bodyReposition a body in world space
- →Physics panelTune G, dt, speed, trace length and more