The iconic ship silhouette emerges from the chaos of absolute-value iteration.
The Burning Ship fractal is generated by taking the absolute values of the real and imaginary parts before squaring in each iteration. The result is a fractal with a distinctive ship-like silhouette at the bottom of the set, surrounded by fire-like filaments and hauntingly asymmetric structures unlike anything in the Mandelbrot set.
Real axis (Re)
-0.4
Imaginary axis (Im)
-0.6i
Zoom
1.2×
Max iterations
400
Complex address
The Burning Ship fractal uses the Michelitsch–Rössler (1992) iteration . The absolute-value step folds the complex plane before squaring, breaking the bilateral symmetry of the Mandelbrot set and producing the characteristic “ship” silhouette.
This location at focuses on a particularly detailed region of the ship’s structure.
A classic Mandelbrot region filled with curling seahorse-like spirals.
Mandelbrot SetMassive elephant-trunk filaments wind through the boundary in repeating arcs.
Mandelbrot SetA dense spiral basin where bifurcating arms fold into one another.
Mandelbrot SetSnowflake-like dendrites flare around a dark bay in cool ocean tones.
This is just one of thousands of unique views. Open the interactive explorer and find your own.
