Which 19th-century astronomer discovered asteroid 55 Pandora in 1858?

George Mary Searle discovered asteroid 55 Pandora in 1858.

Searle found Pandora on 10 September 1858 from the Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York. The object became the 55th numbered minor planet, and its name refers to Pandora, the first woman in Greek mythology. Asteroids were being discovered rapidly during this period, after Ceres became the first known asteroid in 1801.

Pandora is a main-belt asteroid, meaning that it orbits the Sun mainly between Mars and Jupiter. It is not the same object as Pandora, a small moon of Saturn discovered more than a century later. That distinction matters because both astronomical bodies use the mythological name.

Searle later worked at the Dudley Observatory and became known for astronomical observations and calculations. Asteroid 55 Pandora is relatively small and faint, so it is not normally visible without optical equipment. Its discovery is therefore a historical astronomical observation, not an observation of the much more famous Saturnian moon.