Calculating object velocity at perihelion I would like to calculate the velocity of an asteroid orbiting around a star (Sun) at the perihelion of its orbit. I know the excentricity of the ellipse and its semimajor axis.

I have found that the vis-viva equation is used to calculate the velocity of an object on an elliptical orbit and that the perihelion is at distance r = a(1-e). However I (simply enough) cannot see how to mathematically combine these two pieces of information in order to get the velocity at the perihelion. 

(I am not so much looking for just a formula but rather a proof/intuition regarding how to get from the vis-visa equation for velocity to a perihelion velocity equation)
The vis-viva equation is commonly written like this: 

$$v^2 = GM\left(\frac{2}{r} - \frac{1}{a}\right)$$. 

For $r=a(1-e)$: 

$$v = \sqrt{GM\left(\frac{2}{a(1-e)} - \frac{1}{a}\right)} = \sqrt{GM\frac{1}{a}\left(\frac{2}{1-e}-1\right)} = \sqrt{GM\frac{1}{a}\left(\frac{1+e}{1-e}\right)}$$.

The derivation of the vis-viva equation is not at all trivial and can be found here.

The product $GM$ is also called the standard gravitational parameter and for solar system bodies is often known more accurately than $G$ and $M$ separately. For the Sun $GM_☉$ is about 1.327E+20 m³ s⁻² which in different units is 1.327E+11 km³ s⁻² or about 1.0 AU³ year⁻².