Order Of the Planets From The Sun

First the quick facts: Our Solar System has eight “official” planets which orbit the Sun. Here
are the planets listed in order of their distance from the Sun:

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. An easy mnemonic
for remembering the order is “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles.”

If you add in the dwarf planets, Ceres is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter,
while the remaining dwarf planets are in the outer Solar System and in order from the Sun are
Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. There is, as yet, a bit of indecision about the Trans-
Neptunian Objects known as Orcus, Quaoar, 2007 O10, and Sedna and their inclusion in the
dwarf planet category.

A mnemonic for this list would be “My Very Educated Mother Could Just Serve Us Noodles,
Pie, Ham, Muffins, and Eggs” (and Steak, if Sedna is included.) You can find more tricks for
remembering the order of the planets at our detailed article here.

Now, let’s look at a few details including the definition of a planet and a dwarf planet, as well
as details about each of the planets in our Solar System.

Ar
tistic impression of the Solar System, with all known terrestrial planets, as giants, and dwarf
planets. Credit: NASA

What is a Planet?
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) decided on the definition of a planet.
The definition states that in our Solar System, a planet is a celestial body which:

 is in orbit around the Sun,

 has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium (a nearly round shape),
  has “cleared the neighborhood” around its orbit.
 is not a moon.

This means that Pluto, which was considered to be the farthest planet since its discovery in
1930, now is classified as a dwarf planet. The change in the definition came after the
discovery three bodies that were all similar to Pluto in terms of size and orbit, (Quaoar in
2002, Sedna in 2003, and Eris in 2005).

With advances in equipment and techniques, astronomers knew that more objects like Pluto
would very likely be discovered, and so the number of planets in our Solar System would
start growing quickly. It soon became clear that either they all had to be called planets or
Pluto and bodies like it would have to be reclassified.

With much controversy then and since, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. This
also reclassified the asteroid Ceres as a dwarf planet, too, and so the first five recognized
dwarf planets are Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Makemake and Haumea. Scientists believe there may be
dozens more dwarf planets awaiting discovery.

Later, in 2008, the IAU announced the subcategory of dwarf planets with trans-Neptunian
orbits would be known as “plutoids.” Said the IAU, “Plutoids are celestial bodies in orbit
around the Sun at a distance greater than that of Neptune that have sufficient mass for their
self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that they assume a hydrostatic equilibrium
(near-spherical) shape, and that have not cleared the neighborhood around their orbit.”

This subcategory includes Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.

The Planets in our Solar System:

Having covered the basics of definition and classification, let’s get talking about those
celestial bodies in our Solar System that are still classified as planets (sorry Pluto!). Here is a
brief look at the eight planets in our Solar System. Included are quick facts and links so you
can find out more ab