332P/Ikeya-Murakami (0332P)

TRY AGAIN 2026

Type: Periodic Perihelion date: 18 August 2021 Perihelion distance (q): 1.6 Aphelion distance (Q) : 4.6 Period (years): 5.4 Eccentricity (e): 0.49 Inclination (i): 9.4 JPL orbit diagram COBS lightcurve Note: the comet has fragmented into several parts The comet was discovered visually by Japanese amateur observers, Kaoru Ikeya on 2 and 3 November 2010 and by Shigeki Murakami on 3 November; moving eastward at approximately 2'/hr, 47 years since the first discovery by Ikeya (1963 A1). The comet was magnitude 8.5 at discovery, and 8 the following day. It seemed to be brightening rapidly, as visual observation by Juan Jose Gonzalez on November 4 put it as bright as 7.6 in 10x50B. The comet was undergoing an outburst, partially confirmed by Ikeya's failure to spot the comet when he searched the discovery area on 1 November. The coma expanded, and the comet had faded to around 12th magnitude by early December, much faster than a standard light curve would suggest. The recovery of P/2010 V1 on 31 December 2015, at magnitude 20 was announced on 2 January 2016, and designated as P/2015 Y2. A secondary fragment (B) was confirmed and announced on 5 January 2016. The comet is now composed of several components with different comas, envelopes and tails. Around 11 January 2016, two fainter potential fragments, designated P/2010 V1-C and P/2010 V1-D were located, both likely having been fragmented from P/2010 V1- B. As of 29 January 2016, fragments B and D had nearly entirely desintegrated, and C was undergoing an outburst, making it as bright as P/2010 V1-A. M.P.E.C. 2016-D09, issued on 16 February 2016, reported: It is clear that some of the fragments of this comet (especially B) arebecoming very diffuse, with the consequent difficulty in measuring accuratepositions. The predictions below for fragments D, F, G, H and I (new) are(now) based solely only on the 2016 observations. The Minor Planet Center will assign fragment designations to new fragments only upon receipt of observations from two or more nights (not necessarily from the same observer). Observers are requested to report observations of potential new fragments under the generic packed designation "PK10V010". Please report only one new fragment in each message. Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude) Date 10x10 mag Error VEmag Coma ' 28-Mar-16 18.68 0.03 15.7 0.2 28-Mar-16 18.58 0.09 15.7 0.2 06-Apr-16 18.46 0.06 15.4 0.2 06-Apr-16 19.30 0.25 16.4 0.2 11-Apr-16 19.04 0.07 16.1 0.2 11-Apr-16 18.85 0.02 17.3 0.2