In astronomy, 55 Pandora is classified as an asteroid.
The object is a large main-belt asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. It was discovered in 1858 and later received the name Pandora, after the figure from Greek mythology associated with the famous container of evils.
The number 55 is its asteroid designation, assigned as part of the standard numbering system for minor planets. It is not a moon of Saturn or a planet in the Pandora fictional setting from Avatar.
Astronomers classify 55 Pandora as an asteroid rather than a comet because it is a rocky minor planet without the characteristic cometary coma and tail produced when a comet approaches the Sun. Its mythological name is shared with several other astronomical objects.