‘Manhattanhenge’ illuminates New York City; take a look

A unique natural event halted the bustling city of New York on Tuesday evening as countless individuals aimed to capture the perfect photo of “Manhattanhenge”. This phenomenon occurs when the setting sun aligns perfectly with the city’s street grid. According to the American Museum of Natural History, Manhattanhenge happens for two days each in May and in July. During these two days, as the Sun sets along the city’s grid, half of its disk can be seen above the horizon. The phenomenon known as “henge” is not exclusive to New York, and similar events have been observed in other cities characterised by tall buildings and long, straight streets, such as Chicago, Montreal, and Toronto.

The customary locations for observing Manhattanhenge are the wide east-west streets of the city, including 14th Street, 23rd Street, 34th Street, 42nd Street, and 57th Street, according to Fox Weather. Additionally, it is possible to witness Manhattanhenge from the Long Island City area of Queens, across the East River. The second set of dates for experiencing Manhattanhenge are 12 July (full sun) and 13 July (half sun).

Tonight’s half-sun Manhattanhenge on 42nd Street pic.twitter.com/VYJ7lzX7p1

— Noel Y. Calingasan • NYC (@nyclovesnyc) May 30, 2023

In a 1997 article published in Natural History magazine, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson introduced the term Manhattanhenge. Tyson, who currently serves as the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, revealed that his inspiration for the term came from a visit to Stonehenge during his teenage years.

During an expedition led by Gerald Hawkins, a scientist who proposed that Stonehenge served as an astronomical observatory, Tyson, known for hosting TV shows like PBS’ “Nova ScienceNow”, made an interesting observation. Being a native New Yorker, he noticed the resemblance between the setting sun framed by Manhattan’s skyscrapers and the sun’s rays hitting the centre of the Stonehenge circle during the solstice. While the builders of Stonehenge intentionally aligned it with the sun, the alignment of the sun with Manhattan’s streets was not a deliberate design choice but rather a coincidental occurrence.

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