Lutz-Peter Hooge <lpv### [at] gmxde> wrote:
> This is only true for systems with three or more bodies.
> A system of two bodies will always be stable I think (in real life, a 
> simulation of it may be unstable, especially if computed using the Euler 
> algorithm).

  It may depend on how "stable" is defined.
  I think that an orbit is defined to be stable when the orbiting body
has a permanent and well-defined orbit around the other object
(that is, it will never collide with the other object nor it will be
ejected to infinity).
  In this sense it's perfectly possible to have an unstable orbit in
a two-body system (eg. simply by having them in collision course; it's
also possible that they will escape to infinity with respect to each other
if the minimum escaping speed is reached).

  Perhaps you confused this with the fact that a two-body
system can be modelled analytically while a three-(and higher) body
system cannot (but must be approximated numerically)?

-- 
#macro N(D)#if(D>99)cylinder{M()#local D=div(D,104);M().5,2pigment{rgb M()}}
N(D)#end#end#macro M()<mod(D,13)-6mod(div(D,13)8)-3,10>#end blob{
N(11117333955)N(4254934330)N(3900569407)N(7382340)N(3358)N(970)}//  - Warp -

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