Explain where the planets are situated in the solar system and illustrate this
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/3/1/23312416/2403928.jpg?1380250593)
Ever since the discovery of Pluto in 1930, kids grew up learning about the nine planets of our solar system. That all changed starting in the late 1990s, when astronomers began to argue about whether Pluto was a planet. In a highly controversial decision, the International Astronomical Union ultimately decided in 2006 to call Pluto a Dwarf Planet reducing the list of “real planets” in our solar system to eight. But many children (and adults) cling to the notion of 9 planets.
Regardless of this - within our solar system nine planets circle around the sun. The sun always sits in the middle and the planets travel in orbits (circular paths) around it. The nine planets travel in the same direction, which is counter clockwise. The picture on the left shows the different paths and positions of each planet (not to scale.)
The inner part of the solar system (which is closest to the sun) is made up of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
The outer part of the solar system is made up of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranas and Neptune and Pluto (which isn't drawn on the image as the scanner chopped it off.)
All information from: http://kids.nineplanets.org
The above drawing was created by Kristen Clark (me)