Asteroid 55 Pandora, named for the Greek myth, was discovered by which astronomer in 1858?

George Mary Searle discovered asteroid 55 Pandora in 1858.

Searle found Pandora on September 10, 1858, at the Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York. The object was the 55th asteroid to receive a number, which explains its designation, 55 Pandora. Its name refers to Pandora of Greek mythology, continuing the nineteenth-century practice of giving asteroids classical names.

Pandora is a large main-belt asteroid with an approximately stony composition. It travels around the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, as do most known main-belt asteroids. Its orbit and physical properties are unrelated to Saturn’s moon Pandora, despite the two bodies sharing the same mythological name.

George Mary Searle was an American astronomer and later a professor at the University of Cincinnati. The discovery is sometimes confused with discoveries by Heinrich d’Arrest, Johann Palisa, or Christian Peters, all prolific nineteenth-century asteroid observers. The exact identification is preserved in the asteroid’s official historical record.