A child won a content with her easy mnemonic device to remember our newly established 11 planets. Montana 4th grader, Maryn Smith, entered the National Geographic contest and will get an entry in a National Geographic book and recording star Lisa Loeb is turning her entry into a song (both are due in March). I thought we were still debating if Pluto was a planet or not, but that's what happens when you get your science news from Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Colbert Report.
So here is the updated planet list, including three dwarf planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Eris. The three dwarf planets are Ceres, Pluto and Eris. And the award winning phrase? My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants.
Great job, Maryn!