The asteroid Pandora was assigned the number 55 in the asteroid catalogue.
55 Pandora is a large main-belt asteroid discovered by the German astronomer Hermann Goldschmidt in 1858. Goldschmidt made the discovery from Paris, and the object was later named for Pandora, the figure from Greek mythology whose story centers on the famous container.
The number 55 indicates Pandora’s position in the historical sequence of numbered minor planets, not its size or date of discovery. Early asteroid numbering followed confirmed orbital calculations and formal recognition, so numbered objects are not necessarily ordered by physical dimensions.
55 Pandora is classified as a main-belt asteroid, meaning it orbits the Sun in the broad region between Mars and Jupiter where most known asteroids are found. It is separate from Saturn’s moon Pandora, which received the same mythological name but is a natural satellite rather than an asteroid.