4506 P-L. Discovered 1960 Sept. 26 by C. J. van Houten and I. van Houten-Groeneveld at Palomar.

Named in honor of Nobel prize winner Hannes Alfvén {1908–1995} {1970, together with L. E. N. Néel}, who has stimulated physical studies of asteroids to be made with telescopes on the Earth and on future spacecraft. (M 3643)

This name has been proposed by Dr. T. Gehrels.

Obituaries published in Ciel Terre, Vol. 111, No. 3, p. 67–74 (1995); Phys. Today, Vol. 48, No. 9, p. 118–119 (1995); COSPAR Inf. Bull., No. 133, p. 57–58 (1995); Astrophys. Space Sci., Vol. 234, No. 2, p. 173–175 (1995); IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., Vol. 25, No. 3, p. 409–414 (1997); Nature, Vol. 375, No. 6528, p. 187 (1995); Postepy Astron., Tom 44, No. 2, p. 91–92 (1996); Q.J.R. Astron. Soc., Vol. 37, No. 2, p. 259–260 (1996); Vasiona, Vol. 44, No. 1–2, p. 24–25 (1996).