Questions on bodes law...

[smjjames]

Would bodes law eventually make all planets eventually orbit a similar plane? Like the Solar System does. I'm just wondering as I have a couple of large mass objects with a high orbital inclination. I know large objects will pull smaller objects towards their plane of orbit, but would it spread like a ripple effect through all major masses?

Also, I'm not sure if this is tidal effects, but would objects orbiting in retrograde get their orbits flipped over time?

[FiahOwl]

Well,  I don't know if this is related but... In the Epsilona Revoluta system, the innermost planet gets pulled from a .29 eccentric orbit to nearly circular by the other planets. I'll have to investigate more. So I think the large mass objects will straighten out (and flatten, apparently) the orbits of the smaller objects. (assuming the larger ones are NOT eccentric and are NOT highly inclined. (Wait, they should be inclined to help the lower mass objects from getting ejected, amrite?)

Did anyone get confused?

[smjjames]

The inclination of the high mass object might not matter much. I've noticed that trend in the Centauri system accretion, doesn't have to be small objects either, both objects can be planet sized.

Of course though, orbital dynamics in a binary gets more complicated because of the interaction between the two stars and object swapping which tends to mess with orbits. That was with a separated binary, but I don't know if anybody has tried a close orbiting binary with a period of days or a few years.