What is Pandora’s number in the asteroid catalogue?

Pandora’s number in the asteroid catalogue is 55 Pandora.

55 Pandora is a large main-belt asteroid discovered by George Mary Searle on September 10, 1858, at the Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York. It was named after Pandora from Greek mythology, continuing the tradition of giving many asteroids names drawn from classical culture.

The number 55 records its place in the sequence of numbered minor planets, not a ranking by size or importance. Pandora is an S-type asteroid, a broad classification associated with stony composition. It travels around the Sun in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

This object is easy to confuse with Pandora, Saturn’s moon, because both use the same mythological name. The asteroid is identified as 55 Pandora, while the moon is usually called Pandora or Saturn XVII. The catalogue number is therefore essential for distinguishing the asteroid from the satellite.