In James Cameron’s 2009 film Avatar, Pandora is a moon. It is a fictional satellite orbiting the gas giant Polyphemus in the Alpha Centauri star system.
The film uses Pandora as the setting for the Na’vi civilization and for the human mining operation seeking unobtanium. Although characters and marketing often refer simply to “the world of Pandora,” the story’s scientific setting identifies it as a moon rather than a planet. Its forests, mountains, floating Hallelujah Mountains, and unusual biology create the film’s distinctive environment.
This fictional Pandora is separate from Pandora in Greek mythology. Cameron’s title and setting use the mythological name as a thematic reference to opening a dangerous or unknown world. The film’s Pandora therefore belongs to science fiction, while the ancient Pandora belongs to Greek myth.