55 Pandora is the asteroid named after Pandora, the woman from Greek mythology.
The asteroid 55 Pandora was discovered by George Mary Searle on September 10, 1858, at the Albany Observatory in New York. Its name follows the long astronomical practice of assigning mythological names to minor planets. The number 55 records its position in the sequence of asteroid discoveries.
55 Pandora is a main-belt asteroid, meaning that it orbits the Sun primarily in the region between Mars and Jupiter. It should not be confused with Pandora, a moon of Saturn, which received the same mythological name independently.
The asteroid’s designation is written with the number before the name, so “55 Pandora” is the canonical form. Ceres, Vesta, and Psyche are also famous named minor planets, but they are separate objects with different discovery histories and orbital properties.