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Top 10 Planets and Dwarf Planets by Number of Moons

The ten planets and dwarf planets in our Solar System with the most confirmed moons, ranked by the number of known natural satellites in orbit.

Updated October 18, 2026 10 ranked 5 sources

Quick answer

Saturn has the most moons of any planet or dwarf planet in the Solar System, with 293 moons with known orbits. Jupiter is second with 115 and Uranus third with 29. The ranking uses moons with known orbits as tallied by JPL Solar System Dynamics, covering the eight planets and five IAU dwarf planets, as announced by 17 June 2026.

Of the Solar System's eight planets and five IAU-recognized dwarf planets, ten are known to have at least one moon; Mercury, Venus and Ceres have none. The giant planets dominate: Saturn and Jupiter between them have more than 400. Counts keep rising as surveys find small irregular moons, so this list states the date of its figures: moons with known orbits as announced by 17 June 2026.

Confirmed moons

Confirmed moons
Saturn
293 moons
Jupiter
115 moons
Uranus
29 moons
Neptune
16 moons
Pluto
5 moons
Mars
2 moons
Haumea
2 moons
Earth
1 moon
Eris
1 moon
Makemake
1 moon

The ranking

1

Saturn

Saturn has the most moons of any planet: 293 with known orbits, after 128 moons were announced in March 2025 (taking it to 274) and 19 more between March and June 2026. Seven of them are large enough to be in hydrostatic equilibrium, including Titan, the second-largest moon in the Solar System. Almost all of the rest are small irregular moons only a few kilometres across.

type: Planet (gas giant)diameter_km: 120536largest_moon: Titan (5,150 km diameter)notable_moons: Titan, Enceladus, Mimas, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus
2

Jupiter

Jupiter has 115 moons with known orbits, after the Minor Planet Center announced 18 new ones in March and April 2026. Its four largest, the Galilean moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, were discovered by Galileo in 1610. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System at 5,268 km across, larger than the planet Mercury.

type: Planet (gas giant)diameter_km: 142984largest_moon: Ganymede (5,268 km diameter)notable_moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto
3

Uranus

Uranus has 29 known moons, named after characters from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Five major moons (Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon) are large enough to be in hydrostatic equilibrium; 14 small moons orbit within the ring system and ten are distant irregular moons.

type: Planet (ice giant)diameter_km: 51118largest_moon: Titania (1,578 km diameter)notable_moons: Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon
4

Neptune

Neptune has 16 known moons. By far the largest is Triton, which accounts for more than 99.5% of all mass orbiting the planet. Triton is unique among large moons for its retrograde orbit, suggesting it was a dwarf planet captured by Neptune's gravity. It is also one of the coldest known bodies in the Solar System at -235°C.

type: Planet (ice giant)diameter_km: 49528largest_moon: Triton (2,707 km diameter)notable_moons: Triton, Nereid, Proteus, Naiad
5

Pluto

Though reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006, Pluto has a surprisingly complex moon system with five confirmed moons. The largest, Charon, is more than half as large as Pluto itself, forming a binary system where both bodies orbit a point outside Pluto's surface. The other four — Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra — were discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope.

type: Dwarf planetdiameter_km: 2377largest_moon: Charon (1,212 km diameter)notable_moons: Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, Hydra
6

Mars

The Red Planet has two small, irregularly shaped moons: Phobos and Deimos (Greek for 'fear' and 'dread'). They are likely captured asteroids from the nearby Main Belt. Phobos, the larger at about 22 km across, is slowly spiraling toward Mars and will either crash into the planet or break apart into a ring in about 30–50 million years.

type: Planet (terrestrial)diameter_km: 6792largest_moon: Phobos (22 km diameter)notable_moons: Phobos, Deimos
7

Haumea

This elongated dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt has two known moons, Hi'iaka and Namaka, named after Hawaiian goddesses. Haumea spins in under four hours, which stretches it into an elongated shape about 2,100 km long.

type: Dwarf planetdiameter_km: 1544largest_moon: Hi'iaka (roughly 320-390 km; estimates vary)notable_moons: Hi'iaka, Namaka
8

Earth

Earth has one large natural satellite — simply called the Moon. At 3,474 km in diameter, it is the largest moon relative to its planet in the Solar System and the fifth-largest moon overall. The Moon is believed to have formed from debris after a Mars-sized object collided with the early Earth. It is the only celestial body beyond Earth that humans have visited.

type: Planet (terrestrial)diameter_km: 12756largest_moon: The Moon (3,474 km diameter)notable_moons: The Moon
9

Eris

Eris is the most massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the largest body yet found in the scattered disc of the Kuiper Belt. It has one known moon, Dysnomia, named after the daughter of the Greek goddess Eris. The discovery of Eris in 2005 was the catalyst that led the IAU to create the dwarf planet classification and reclassify Pluto.

type: Dwarf planetdiameter_km: 2326largest_moon: Dysnomia (~700 km diameter)notable_moons: Dysnomia
10

Makemake

This Kuiper Belt dwarf planet was discovered in 2005 and named after the creation deity of the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island. It has one known moon, provisionally designated S/2015 (136472) 1 and nicknamed MK2, discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2015. Makemake's surface is covered in frozen methane and ethane, giving it a reddish appearance.

type: Dwarf planetdiameter_km: 1430largest_moon: MK2 / S/2015 (136472) 1notable_moons: MK2

Full comparison

# Name typediameter_kmlargest_moonnotable_moons
1 Saturn Planet (gas giant)120536Titan (5,150 km diameter)Titan, Enceladus, Mimas, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus
2 Jupiter Planet (gas giant)142984Ganymede (5,268 km diameter)Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto
3 Uranus Planet (ice giant)51118Titania (1,578 km diameter)Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon
4 Neptune Planet (ice giant)49528Triton (2,707 km diameter)Triton, Nereid, Proteus, Naiad
5 Pluto Dwarf planet2377Charon (1,212 km diameter)Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, Hydra
6 Mars Planet (terrestrial)6792Phobos (22 km diameter)Phobos, Deimos
7 Haumea Dwarf planet1544Hi'iaka (roughly 320-390 km; estimates vary)Hi'iaka, Namaka
8 Earth Planet (terrestrial)12756The Moon (3,474 km diameter)The Moon
9 Eris Dwarf planet2326Dysnomia (~700 km diameter)Dysnomia
10 Makemake Dwarf planet1430MK2 / S/2015 (136472) 1MK2

How we ranked this

Ranking metric: number of moons with known orbits announced for each body, as tallied by JPL Solar System Dynamics (Planetary Satellite Discovery Circumstances) and reflected in Wikipedia's List of natural satellites and Moons of Saturn/Jupiter articles, read on 2026-10-18; the latest change counted is Saturn's moon announced on 17 June 2026. Scope is the eight planets and the five dwarf planets recognized by the IAU (Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, Eris); other likely dwarf planets such as Orcus, Quaoar and Gonggong are not included. Ranked highest count first. Ties are broken by object type (planet before dwarf planet), then alphabetically.

FAQ

Which planet has the most moons?

Saturn, with 293 moons with known orbits as of June 2026, ahead of Jupiter's 115. Saturn's count jumped from 146 to 274 in March 2025 and rose again in 2026 as more small irregular moons were announced.

Which planets have no moons?

Mercury and Venus have no moons. Earth has one, Mars has two, and the outer planets have dozens to hundreds each.

What is the difference between a planet and a dwarf planet?

Under the IAU definition, a planet orbits the Sun, is massive enough to be round, and has cleared its orbital neighbourhood. A dwarf planet meets the first two criteria but not the third. The IAU recognizes five dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris.

Why do the giant planets have so many more moons than the inner planets?

Gas giants have much stronger gravitational fields that allow them to capture passing asteroids and Kuiper Belt objects as irregular moons. Their larger Hill spheres (the region where their gravity dominates) also help them retain more satellites.

Sources

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