The asteroid designated 55 Pandora is named Pandora.
55 Pandora is a large main-belt asteroid discovered by the German astronomer George Mary Searle on September 10, 1858. It orbits the Sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and was the 55th asteroid to receive a permanent number in the traditional sequence.
Its name comes from Pandora of Greek mythology. Astronomers frequently give asteroids names drawn from mythology, literature, or other cultural traditions, so this object is not physically connected with the mythological character. The shared name is commemorative.
55 Pandora has also been studied through observations of its brightness and rotation. Like many asteroids, its apparent brightness changes as it spins and as its viewing geometry changes. It should not be confused with Pandora, one of Saturn’s moons, which was discovered more than a century later.