[This is for the 2.3.3 Base game, but I recall the same behavior in 2.5]
In the Govern screen, on the Colonies page you can sort the list of colonies by any of the attributes (columns). You can view and edit a planet from that page, but when it returns to the page the table is un- (or default-)sorted. You have to resort and probably scroll to find the next planet of interest.
The list should retain the selected sort at least so long as the Govern screen is active, and possible for the duration of the game session.