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Comet 332P/Ikeya-Mirakami Disintegration Sequence

This video, made from a sequence of Hubble Space Telescope images, shows the slow migration of building-size fragments of Comet 332P/Ikeya-Murakami over a three-day period in January 2016. The pieces broke off of the main nucleus in late 2015 as the icy, ancient comet approached the sun in its orbit.
  • Release Date
    September 15, 2016
  • Science Release
    Hubble Takes Close-up Look at Disintegrating Comet
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA)

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Related Images & Videos

Comet 332P/Ikeya-Murakami

Comet 332P/Ikeya-Murakami

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the ancient Comet 332P/Ikeya-Murakami disintegrating as it approaches the sun. The observations represent one of the sharpest views of an icy comet breaking apart. The comet debris consists of a cluster of building-size chunks near...

Comet 332P (Jan. 26, 2016)

Comet 332P (Jan. 26, 2016)

This image of Comet 332P was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 on Jan. 26, 2016.

Comet 332P (Jan. 27, 2016)

Comet 332P (Jan. 27, 2016)

This image of Comet 332P was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 on Jan. 27, 2016.

Comet 332P (Jan. 28, 2016)

Comet 332P (Jan. 28, 2016)

This image of Comet 332P was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 on Jan. 28, 2016.

Comet 332P Annotated Compass Image

Comet 332P Annotated Compass Image

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Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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