What is the official minor-planet number of the asteroid Pandora?

The asteroid Pandora has the official minor-planet designation 55 Pandora. It was discovered by George Mary Searle on September 10, 1858, at the Albany Observatory in New York.

Pandora is a main-belt asteroid, meaning that it orbits the Sun in the broad region between Mars and Jupiter where most known asteroids reside. Its name comes from Pandora, the figure in Greek mythology whose opening of a container releases troubles into the world.

The number 55 records the asteroid’s position in the historical sequence of numbered minor planets. It does not indicate its size, age, or importance. Astronomers assign a permanent number after an object’s orbit has been established sufficiently well.

This asteroid is distinct from Pandora, the small moon of Saturn, and from the fictional or commercial uses of the name. Those objects share a mythological name but have different discoveries and physical properties.