The best known acronym for planets comes as a whole line of words: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos. Its first letters, M V E M J S U N, match the eight planets from Mercury out to Neptune, in the order they sit from the Sun.
Strictly speaking, this planet acronym is an acrostic: a sentence whose first letters carry the list. Since M V E M J S U N cannot be pronounced, students hold on to the silly sentence instead. It shows up on science worksheets from about third grade on, and it is the reason many adults can still name the planets in order.
Quick facts
Sentence
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us NachosLetters
M V E M J S U NLists
The eight planets, closest to the Sun firstType
Mnemonic acrostic, not a word you pronounceOlder version
Ended with Nine Pizzas, adding P for PlutoUsed in
Elementary and middle school science
How the acronym for planets works, word by word
Each word lines up with one planet. Read down the table and you travel from the hottest, closest world to the cold outer edge of the system.
| Word | Letter | Planet | Quick fact |
|---|---|---|---|
| My | M | Mercury | Smallest planet, closest to the Sun |
| Very | V | Venus | Hottest surface of all the planets |
| Educated | E | Earth | The only planet known to have life |
| Mother | M | Mars | The red, dusty one |
| Just | J | Jupiter | Largest planet |
| Served | S | Saturn | Famous for its bright rings |
| Us | U | Uranus | Spins tipped on its side |
| Nachos | N | Neptune | Farthest planet from the Sun |
Notice the two M words. The first M (My) is Mercury and the second M (Mother) is Mars. Keeping that straight is the main trap in the sentence.
Why Pluto dropped out of the sentence
Many parents learned a longer version: "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas." The ninth word stood for Pluto. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union set a new definition of a planet, and Pluto was moved into the dwarf planet group because it has not cleared other objects out of its orbit.
Once the count fell to eight, "Nine Pizzas" no longer fit. Teachers swapped in one word that starts with N, and nachos became the favorite. Other dwarf planets, such as Ceres and Eris, are not part of the sentence at all.
On a worksheet: "Use the planets acronym to put these in order: Saturn, Earth, Neptune, Mercury." A student who thinks "My Educated Served Nachos" writes Mercury, Earth, Saturn, Neptune.
Other planet sentences students use
Any sentence works as long as the first letters stay M V E M J S U N. Some classes make up their own, which often sticks better than a borrowed one.
- My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming
- Many Very Eager Mice Jumped Swiftly Under Napkins
- My Very Excellent Mom Just Sent Us Notes
- Mighty Volcanoes Erupt, Making Jagged Stone Under Nature
The trick is to pick words you can picture. A strange image, like a mother handing out nachos in space, is easier to recall than a plain list of names.
Splitting the eight into groups
The sentence also hides a pattern. The first four words cover the rocky inner planets, and the last four cover the giant outer planets.
- My Very Educated Mother: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are small and rocky.
- Just Served: Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants.
- Us Nachos: Uranus and Neptune are often called ice giants.
The asteroid belt sits between Mars and Jupiter, right at the break between "Mother" and "Just." That makes a handy pause point when you say the sentence out loud.
Is it really an acronym?
People call it the acronym for planets, and the label is fine in everyday talk. A word expert would call it a mnemonic acrostic, since the letters are carried by a sentence rather than read as one word. Compare PEMDAS, which hides the order of operations in a line about an aunt named Sally, or FANBOYS, which you can actually pronounce. The what is an acronym guide sorts out these labels.
You can browse more school and safety memory tricks on the memory acronyms page.
Tips for remembering the planets in order
- Say it out loud a few times. Rhythm helps the words stick.
- Watch the two M planets. Mercury comes first, Mars comes fourth.
- Draw it. Sketch eight circles and write one word of the sentence under each.
- Add sizes. Make Jupiter and Saturn the biggest circles so the picture matches the facts.
- Make your own line. If nachos do not stick, invent a sentence about something you like.
Space agencies such as NASA list the planets in this same order on their charts, so the sentence will match nearly every map of the solar system you see.
Questions people ask
What is the acronym for the planets?
Most people learn My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos. Its first letters give the eight planets in order, from Mercury, the closest, to Neptune, the farthest.
What was the old planet acronym with Pluto?
The older version was My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. The last P stood for Pluto, which was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.
Which M is Mercury and which is Mars?
The first M, My, is Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun. The second M, Mother, is Mars, the fourth planet.
Can I make up my own planets acronym?
Yes. Any sentence works if its first letters are M V E M J S U N in that order. Many teachers find that students remember a sentence they invented better than one they were given.
Does the planets acronym include dwarf planets?
No. The standard sentence covers only the eight major planets. Dwarf planets such as Pluto, Ceres and Eris are left out.