In James Cameron’s Avatar, what is Pandora’s astronomical status?

In James Cameron’s Avatar, Pandora is a moon of Polyphemus.

Pandora is the fictional setting of the 2009 science-fiction film Avatar. The film places it in the Alpha Centauri star system and describes it as a habitable moon orbiting the gas giant Polyphemus. Humans travel there to mine unobtanium, while the Na’vi inhabit the moon’s forests and other environments.

Pandora is not presented as a planet, despite its Earth-like landscapes and the way casual discussion may describe it as a world. Its status as a moon is part of the fictional astronomy established by the film and its expanded setting materials.

This cinematic Pandora is separate from the figure in Greek mythology, the asteroid 55 Pandora, and Saturn’s moon Pandora. The shared name creates frequent mix-ups, but the Avatar version belongs to Cameron’s invented planetary system and is associated with Polyphemus.