planet with most moons

Saturn has 18 officially recognized and named moons, more than any other planet. There is strong circumstantial evidence for a 19th moon, though there is not sufficient data to give it official status. The discovery of two new moons of Uranus in 1997 brought its known total to 17 and Jupiter comes in third with 16. It is likely that all these three planets have more small moons that have not yet been discovered. The origin of planetary moons is not certain, but it seems likely that the larger moons of Saturn and the other giant planets, together with their small inner moons, formed in place at about the same time as the parent planet, while the small outer moons are asteroids captured at a later time.