Cassini completed 75 orbits around Saturn during its prime mission, which was completed in the middle of 2008 (see figure). This was followed by 60 orbits during the equinox mission until mid-2010. By the end of the Cassini mission in 2017 the spacecraft will have made 290 revolutions around Saturn. During this time it investigates Saturn's magnetosphere, its rings, and other physical phenomena. Further knowledge about the Saturn system is gained from numerous flybys of the moons.
Between 2004 and 2017 Cassini will have performed 124 close flybys of its enigmatic moon Titan and 22 flybys of Enceladus. The surprising detection of jets of icy particles ejected from fissures at the south pole region ("tiger stripes") of Enceladus has received a great deal of attention.
The main focus of Cassini data analysis carried out at IWF is on the investigation of the magnetosphere and its plasma population using RPWS, the magnetometer, and particle detection instruments. We investigate Saturn's main radio component called Saturn kilometric radiation.
Another research topic at IWF are lightning flashes in the atmosphere of Saturn, and Jovian radio emissions.
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