NASA releases stunning image of Saturn's moons

The Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn since 2004, recently captured a group photo of three of Saturn's moons -- Tethys, Enceladus and Mimas -- appearing above and below the ice and rock of the planet's rings.

NASA released the image on Monday. In the photo, Tethys, which measures 660 miles (1,062 kilometers) across, appears above the rings of Saturn. Enceladus, which is 313 miles (504 kilometers) across, and Mimas, 246 miles (396 kilometers) across, hangs below them.

The moons are tiny in comparison to the Earth's, which measures 2,159 miles (3,475 kilometers) in diameter.

Cassini captured the image on Dec. 3, 2015 with its narrow-angle camera.

The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency. The spacecraft completed its initial four-year mission to explore Saturn and its moons in 2008 and the first extended mission, the Cassini Equinox Mission, in 2010. It's second mission extension is called the Cassini Solstice Mission and runs through 2017.

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