Solar System Video showing the 8 planets of the Solar System orbiting the Sun. As we move out from Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, towards the gas giant planets of the outer Solar System, each of the planets take longer to orbit the sun. The planets in order of size are; Mercury Mars Venus Earth Neptune Uranus Saturn Jupiter When listed in terms of distance from the Sun, the order is as follows; Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune. All of the planets orbit the Sun in an anti-clockwise direction. Most also rotate on their axis in an anti-clockwise direction. The exceptions to this rule are; Uranus - Which rotates on it's end like a bowling ball Venus - Which rotates clockwise, but very slowly. Venus rotates so slowly that a day on planet Venus is longer than a year! The planet with the fastest rotation in Jupiter, which rotates every 10 hours. So fast that it causes the planet to flatten out a little. In this Solar System video, the distance between the pla