Easy ways to remember the order of the planets
Our solar system consists of the sun, eight planets, moons, dwarf planets, an asteroid belt, comets, meteors, and others. The sun is the center of our solar system; the planets, their moons, the asteroids, comets, and other rocks and gas all orbit the sun.
The nine planets that orbit the sun are (in order from the sun): Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (a dwarf planet). A belt of asteroids (minor planets made of rock and metal) lies between Mars and Jupiter. These objects all orbit the sun in roughly circular orbits that lie in the same plane, the ecliptic (Pluto is an exception; it has an elliptical orbit tilted over 17° from the ecliptic).
Easy ways to remember the order of the planets (and Pluto) are the mnemonics: "My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas" and "My Very Easy Method Just Simplifies Us Naming Planets" The first letter of each of these words represents a planet - in the correct order.

Mercury
Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, has almost no atmosphere, and its dusty surface of craters resembles the Moon.
The planet was named for the Roman god Mercury, a winged messenger, and it travels around the Sun faster than any other planet. Mercury is difficult to see from Earth-in fact, the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, for all his years of research and observation, never once was able to see Mercury.
Shortest year of any planet -- 86.969 Earth days. Moonlike, closest to the sun. Lowest known atmospheric pressure. It is not much thicker than the surrounding vacuum.
The Grand Tour: A Traveler's Guide to the Solar System
The Grand Tour: A Traveler's Guide to the Solar System
Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 10/11/2008)
Introducing the new edition of the book praised as "spectacular" (London Times), "eye-boggling" (Future Life), "concise and informative...the colorful and imaginative paintings steal the show"(Chicago Tribune), with "page after page filled with new colour paintings, each the well-controlled evocation of a spectacular scene"(Scientific American).
Venus
Highest atmospheric pressure of any surface planet. A surface pressure of 92 atmospheres can make walking very difficult (assuming you can manage not to fry in the heat). On Earth, 92 atmospheres is equivalent to being 920 meters (~3000 feet) underwater. Divers rarely go much below 150 meters (~500 feet) underwater, equivalent to 15 atmospheres of pressure. At such pressure the low winds of Venus (1 to 3 km/h) can overwhelm you with its strong current. In addition the high pressure makes anything at the surface heat up very quickly.
Earth
Earth is a surface planet. We are stuck inside a huge gravity well that can kill (by a fall); Earth has the greatest gravity of any surface planet.
Earth is the only surface planet to have nearly equal tides from two different sources. The tides from the Moon are slightly more than twice the force of the tides from the Sun.
Visions of Mars
Visions of Mars
Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 10/11/2008)
This amazing group of images, almost all previously unpublished, captures vast sandy plains, ancient lakes, deep canyons, the highest mountains in the solar system, polar ice caps, and other remarkable aspects of the planet's dramatic landscape. The book also includes a summary of the data that has been gathered about the planet up to this time.
Mars
Today's weather forecast for Mars:
Another cool and mostly clear day. Low morning haze will give way to a sunny afternoon with occasional high clouds. High temperature about -10 C at the equator; -25 C in mid-latitudes. Winds moderate, reaching 50 km/h in mid-afternoon. Expect a few clouds this evening and lows of -75 C to -90 C.
Source: Toronto Star, March 26, 1995, Terrence Dickinson, direct quote of part of his weekly The Universe column.
Jupiter: The Planet, Satellites and Magnetosphere
Jupiter: The Planet, Satellites and Magnetosphere (Cambridge Planetary Science)
Amazon Price: $86.53 (as of 10/11/2008)
"There are excellent photos, figures, tables, and diagrams and 19 pages in color. Without doubt, this is the best book available that summarizes knowledge of the largest planet in the solar system. Highly recommended." CHOICE
Jupiter
Jupiter's small moon Sinope, is the moon at the greatest distance from its primary (23,700,000 km or about 60 times the Earth-Moon distance, and 40% the Sun-Mercury distance). This moon is actually invisible to the naked eye from Jupiter.
Saturn: A New View
Saturn: A New View
Amazon Price: $29.20 (as of 10/11/2008)
This breathtaking volume, including authoritative essays on the planetary system and the mission, reveals the planet, its ethereally beautiful rings, and its 40+ moons in ways never before seen or recorded.
"Astonishing, amazing, and personal."
- Dr. David Livingston
Saturn
Most known moons; current count is 18. Recent Hubble discoveries may bring that total up as much as four more, but more likely two or none at all. Jupiter has 16 moons, Uranus has 15, Neptune has 8, Mars has 2, and Earth and Pluto have 1.
Uranus
Uranus has the strangest tilt of any planet -- 97.86°. Uranus is a world on its side, and as result has the most extreme seasons, with the sun almost overhead during summer at Uranus' north pole.
Encyclopedia of the Solar System, Second Edition
Amazon Price: $87.20 (as of 10/11/2008)
"Wonderfully updated and spectacular spacecraft images...Its a great primer for students as well as a reference for professionals."
-WILLIAM K. HARTMANN, Senior Scientist, Planetary Science Institute
Neptune
Strongest winds in the solar system -- 2200 km/h.
Pluto
Pluto was officially labeled the ninth planet by the International Astronomical Union in 1930 and named for the Roman god of the underworld. It was the first and only planet to be discovered by an American, Clyde W. Tombaugh. It has since been reclassified as a Dwarf Planet along with Eris and Ceres.
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