HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-10-10 Asteroid named 9923 ronaldthiel after DPW Traffic Division Head -- press release -- DPW letterhead
Harry Kim
Mayor
Wil Okabe
Allan G. Simeon, P.E.
Managing Director
Deputy Director
County of Hawai‘i
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKSaaron
Aupuni Center
101 Pauahi Street, Suite 7 · Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720-4224
(808) 961-8321 · Fax (808) 961-8630
public_works@hawaiicounty.gov
October 10, 2017
NEWS RELEASE
Asteroid Named after Hawai ʻ i County Traffic Engineer
Hawaiʻi County Traffic Division Chief Ronald Thiel knows lights. Much of his work focuses on
keeping local streets safe with street lights, traffic lights and hazard lights.
He also knows where lights are not helpful – when light pollution interferes with the work of
astronomers and the lives of native wildlife. For Thiel’s work preserving “dark skies” in Hawaiʻi
County, an asteroid was recently named in his honor – 9923 ronaldthiel.
The asteroid naming ceremony took place on September 28, 2017, presented by Dr. Richard
Wainscoat of the University of Hawai'i at a meeting of the Mauna Kea User’s Committee in Hilo.
The asteroid was first discovered by astronomer Bobby Bus on March 7, 1981, with an orbit of
1,723 days around the sun. It has a diameter of 2.55 miles.
Over the years, Thiel has doggedly pushed for innovation, sometimes going against the flow of
traffic. Industry naysayers said it could not be done with Light-Emitting-Diode (LED) lamps, so
he waited for technology to catch up, and he searched for the right manufacturer.
In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act made it possible to take small steps with
the purchase of the first LED street lamps. Subsequent County investments and a partnership
with the State of Hawaiʻi resulted in the installation of 11,000 LED lamps on County and State
roadways across Hawaiʻi Island. Hawaiʻi County, which is nearly the size of the state of
Connecticut, became the first county in the nation to convert all of its street lights to LED lamps.
The LED lamps support the Island’s $58.4 million astronomy industry’s needs for dark skies.
Island observatories scan the heavens to improve our understanding of the far reaches of
space, including asteroids like the 9923 ronaldthiel.
The lamps use filters to remove the LED’s blue spectrum, resulting in improved visibility, safer
roads, and reduced eye fatigue by cutting glare. The filtered lamps have also proven to be far
less of an attraction for Hawaiʻi’s endemic threatened and endangered birds and bats. The
highly-efficient lamps have also reduced electrical and maintenance costs by over 50 percent,
so the new fittings, lamps and installation expenses will pay for themselves in five years. An
added benefit is that the LED lamps have a life of 20 years. The low-pressure sodium bulbs
they replaced typically lasted just over four years.
County of Hawai‘i is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.