Planetary mnemonic

Lore & Background

Before 2006, mnemonics included nine planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. A well-known example from the 1950s is 'Men Very Easily Make Jugs Serve Useful Needs, Perhaps,' which may have originated before Pluto's discovery. Other nine-planet mnemonics include 'My Very Elegant Mother Just Sat Upon Nine Porcupines' and 'My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas.' With the IAU's 2006 definition of planet, which reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet along with Ceres and Eris, these mnemonics became obsolete.

For the eight planets, Phyllis Lugger suggested 'My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos' in August 2006, which was published in the American Astronomical Society Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy Bulletin Board and later used on the IAU website. Kyle Sullivan's 'My Violent Evil Monster Just Scared Us Nuts' appeared in Astronomy magazine in January 2007. Some angry at Pluto's demotion composed sarcastic mnemonics, such as 'Many Very Educated Men Justify Stealing Unique Ninth' and 'Many Very Educated Men Just Screwed Up Nature,' the latter mentioned by Eris discoverer Mike Brown.

In 2007, the National Geographic Society sponsored a contest for an eleven-body mnemonic incorporating Eris, Ceres, and Pluto. The winner, 'My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants,' was coined by 10-year-old Maryn Smith and featured in a song by Lisa Loeb and a book by David Aguilar. After two additional dwarf planets (Makemake and Haumea) were designated in 2008, a 2015 New York Times article suggested 'My Very Educated Mother Cannot Just Serve Us Nine Pizzas—Hundreds May Eat!'

Reader's Guide

Planetary mnemonics serve as a cultural and educational tool reflecting the evolving understanding of the Solar System. The article traces their history from the nine-planet era through the 2006 reclassification, showing how mnemonics adapted to include eight planets, then eleven planets and dwarf planets, and later thirteen. The shift highlights public engagement with astronomical classification, as seen in the National Geographic contest and the sarcastic mnemonics protesting Pluto's demotion. The article notes that longer mnemonics may be needed if more candidate dwarf planets are confirmed, and as of 2026, nine objects are generally believed to be dwarfs, potentially making a list 17 objects long. The mnemonics are not merely memory aids but also markers of scientific consensus and public sentiment, with the IAU itself adopting an eight-planet mnemonic on its website. The article preserves uncertainty about smaller objects like Orcus and Sedna, and notes that additional known bodies are unlikely to be dwarfs due to letter duplication.

Did You Know?

• The mnemonic 'My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos' was proposed by Phyllis Lugger in August 2006 and is used on the IAU website.
• The National Geographic Society sponsored a contest in 2007 for an eleven-body mnemonic, won by 10-year-old Maryn Smith.
• Mike Brown, discoverer of Eris, mentioned the sarcastic mnemonic 'Many Very Educated Men Just Screwed Up Nature'.
• As of 2026, nine objects are generally believed to be dwarf planets, including Ceres and eight beyond Neptune.

A Tactile Map of the Solar System

One of the most distinctive approaches to memorizing planetary order bypasses written phrases entirely in favor of a physical gesture. By holding both hands side by side with thumbs aligned in the same direction—typically the left hand palm-down and the right hand palm-up—a person can assign each finger to a specific body. The palm-down hand encodes the four terrestrial planets, with the pinky standing in for Mercury, while its thumb points to the asteroid belt and the dwarf planet Ceres. The opposite hand, palm facing upward, carries the four giant planets, and its thumb extends the sequence into the trans-Neptunian region, encompassing Pluto and other distant objects. This kinesthetic trick turns the abstract ordering of sidereal periods into something a student can feel in their own hands, making it a memorable alternative to the more common letter-based acronyms that dominate classroom teaching.

When Nine Became Eight

The 2006 International Astronomical Union redefinition of planet struck a chord in popular culture, and planetary mnemonics felt the impact immediately. Phrases that had carried a final P for Pluto—such as the well-known line ending in Nine Pizzas—suddenly needed a new last word. Among the earliest responses was a suggestion from Kyle Sullivan of Lumberton, Mississippi, whose phrase My Violent Evil Monster Just Scared Us Nuts appeared in the January 2007 issue of Astronomy magazine. A more influential revision came from Phyllis Lugger, an astronomy professor at Indiana University, who in August 2006 swapped the final two words of the familiar sentence for the single word Nachos. She presented the tweak to Owen Gingerich, then chair of the IAU Planet Definition Committee, and it was posted on the American Astronomical Society women-in-astronomy bulletin board on August 25, 2006, followed by a feature in Indiana University's Star Trak newsletter on August 30. The IAU ultimately adopted this eight-planet version for its public-facing website.

Mnemonics as Protest

Not everyone accepted the IAU's 2006 decision to reclassify Pluto as a dwarf planet, and a wave of deliberately sarcastic mnemonics emerged as a form of cultural pushback. Ben Schott's Miscellany collected the line Many Very Educated Men Justify Stealing Unique Ninth, a pointed jab at the committee's reasoning. Mike Brown, the astronomer who discovered Eris and whose work helped trigger the reclassification debate, was quoted referencing another variant: Many Very Educated Men Just Screwed Up Nature. A third protest phrase, Most Very Elderly Men Just Slept Under Newspapers, circulated as a tongue-in-cheek dismissal of the new taxonomy. The backlash even produced slightly risqué alternatives, such as Mary's Virgin Explanation Made Joseph Suspect Upstairs Neighbor, which traded astronomical accuracy for a wink. Collectively, these lines reveal how a seemingly technical reclassification sparked genuine public emotion, and how a simple string of initial letters could become a vehicle for dissent, humor, and identity within the astronomy community.

Growing the List

As the roster of recognized dwarf planets expanded, mnemonics had to stretch further. In 2007 the National Geographic Society launched a public contest asking for a phrase encoding eleven bodies—Mercury through Neptune plus Ceres, Pluto, and Eris. The winner, announced on February 22, 2008, was My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants, coined by ten-year-old Maryn Smith of Great Falls, Montana. Her phrase was later set to music in a song titled 11 Planets by Grammy-nominated artist Lisa Loeb and featured in David Aguilar's book 11 Planets: A New View of the Solar System. The list kept growing: Makemake and Haumea were added as dwarf planets in 2008, and a 2015 New York Times article floated the extended line My Very Educated Mother Cannot Just Serve Us Nine Pizzas—Hundreds May Eat! Looking ahead, as many as nine objects are now generally regarded as dwarfs—Ceres in the asteroid belt and eight beyond Neptune, from Orcus through Sedna—potentially producing a seventeen-item list. Complicating matters, the next-largest candidates, Salacia and Máni, would create duplicate initial letters, making a clean acronym increasingly difficult.