Inferior and Superior Planets

Authors

Larry Browning, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
Kay Cutler, South Dakota State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Other

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Do you ever wonder about how to talk about the layout of the solar systems’ planets and their orbits?  The terms inferior and superior planets are terms to refer to the location of the planets in relation to the Sun and Earth or another planet.  For example, in reference to Earth, Venice and Mercury are inferior planets.  The superior planets include Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and the dwarf planets, Pluto and Ceres.

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Recommended Citation

Browning, Larry and Cutler, Kay, "Inferior and Superior Planets" (2026). Astronomy Activites. 2.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/recee-astronomy/2