55 Pandora, discovered by George Mary Searle in 1858, is an asteroid.
55 Pandora is a main-belt asteroid, meaning it travels around the Sun in the broad region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. George Mary Searle discovered it on 10 September 1858 from the Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York. The object was later given the name Pandora, linking it to the figure from Greek mythology.
The number 55 is its sequential minor-planet designation, assigned as part of the cataloguing system for asteroids. It should not be confused with Pandora, the small moon of Saturn, or with the fictional moon in the film Avatar. These objects share a name but belong to different astronomical categories.
Astronomers classify 55 Pandora as an S-type asteroid, a group generally associated with stony compositions. Its orbit and physical properties are studied as part of the broader population of small bodies that formed during the early history of the Solar System.