332P/IkeyaâÂÂMurakami (P/2010 V1) is a short-period comet with period of approximately 5.4 years first identified independently by the two Japanese amateur astronomers Kaoru Ikeya and Shigeki Murakami on November 3, 2010. As 332P/IkeyaâÂÂMurakami only approaches within 1.57 AU of the Sun, roughly Mars distance from the Sun, the fragmentation events may be a result of rapid rotation. The comet was last observed in October 2020 as during the 2021 perihelion passage the comet was only 7 degrees from the Sun. The comet will next come to perihelion in January 2027 when it will have a solar elongation of 100 degrees.
Ikeya identified the comet using a 25-centimeter (10-inch) reflector at 39ÃÂ, while Murakami used a 46 cm (18-inch) reflector at 78ÃÂ. Photographic confirmation of the comet was obtained by Ernesto Guido and Giovanni Sostero using a Global-Rent-a-Scope (GRAS) telescope in New Mexico. Both Ikeya and Murakami discovered the comet using manual observation through optical telescopes. Such visual discoveries have become rare in recent years.
At the start of November 2010, a few weeks past perihelion passage, it was discovered the comet had undergone a major outburst between October 31 and November 3. After the 2010 perihelion passage, the comet only had about an 80-day observation arc.
The recovery of P/2010 V1 on December 31, 2015, at magnitude 20 was announced on January 2, 2016, and designated as P/2015 Y2. A secondary fragment (B) was confirmed and announced on January 5, 2016. The comet is now composed of component A and B with two different comas, envelopes and tails. Around January 11, 2016, two fainter potential fragments, designated P/2010 V1-C and P/2010 V1-D have been located, both likely having been fragmented from P/2010 V1-B. As of January 29, fragments B and D had nearly entirely disintegrated, and fragment C had undergone an outburst, making it as bright as P/2010 V1-A.
FragmentâÂÂA has a 124-day observation arc, and fragmentâÂÂF has the poorest orbit determination as it has a short arc of only 11-days. Most of the fragments are estimated to have an orbital period of about 1980 days. FragmentâÂÂF is estimated to have a longer orbital period of around 2050 days. After two orbits (11 years) of becoming divergent, fragmentâÂÂF is estimated to come to perihelion after fragmentâÂÂA.