55 Pandora, named after the Greek mythological figure, is an asteroid.
55 Pandora is a large main-belt asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. English astronomer George Mary Searle discovered it on September 10, 1858, at the Albany Observatory in New York. It was the first asteroid discovered from North America, giving it an important place in the history of American astronomy.
The asteroid received the name Pandora from Greek mythology. Its designation, 55 Pandora, means that it was the 55th minor planet to receive an official numbered designation. The number does not indicate its size, age, or distance from the Sun.
55 Pandora should not be confused with Pandora, Saturn’s small moon, or with the fictional world of the Avatar films. It is also distinct from the mythological Pandora herself: the asteroid is a physical body in the main asteroid belt, while the name comes from an ancient literary tradition.