Two new moons were spotted around Saturn by the Cassini space probe, raising the total to 33 moons for the ringed planet, Nasa said.

The new moons could be the smallest bodies seen around Saturn, the US space agency said in a statement.

The moons are approximately three kilometres and 2.5 four kilometres across, and are located between the orbits of two other Saturnian moons, Mimas and Enceladus.

For now, the new moons are named S/2004 S1 and S/2004 S2. One of them may have been detected 23 years ago by the Voyager spacecraft. Back then, it was called S/1981 S14.

The Cassini craft saw the new moons on June 1, as it headed towards Saturn in the final stage of its seven-year journey from Earth.

Cassini, an international project involving scientists from 17 countries, threaded its way through Saturn's rings and into orbit around the planet on June 30. It is expected to spend the next four years studying the planet, its rings and its moons.

More information and images are available online at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov

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