An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

The mathematical problem of studying the positions and velocities of three mutually attracting bodies (such as the Sun, Earth and Moon) and the stability of their motion. This problem is surprisingly difficult to solve, even in the simple case, called → restricted three-body problem, where one of the masses is taken to be negligibly small so that the problem simplifies to finding the behavior of the mass-less body in the combined gravitational field of the other two. See also → two-body problem, → n-body problem.

See also: → three; → body; → problem.