Manhattanhenge. The word is a mouthful. But when you see the sight it represents you’ll be standing agape, I assure you. As a New Yorker, you possibly identified the best spot to view the sunset on Memorial Day. For those that live in Manhattan, this weekend would’ve been nothing short of phenomenal, enjoying the Memorial Day in the glorious sunset when the sun lines up with the streets of Manhattan. The event takes place twice a year and is known as Manhattanhenge.
The phenomenon occurs when the sun aligns with Manhattan’s east-west grid of streets as it sets and bathes the north and south side of the streets in a radiant glow as it goes down.
If you want to see it, you have to be standing on the street, amidst the buildings on either side, and face west.
Manhattnhenge occurs on either end of the summer solstice. The interesting bit is that it happens on two consecutive days each time. So you get to see it 4 times a year. This year, the first set of events occurred on May 29th and 30th at roughly 8:10p.m. each evening. The next two will occur on July 11th & 12th.
The cities of Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Montreal and Toronto also experience this phenomenon and its known as, you got it, Bostonhenge, Phillyhenge, Chicagohenge, Montrealhenge and Torontohenge.
When the city roads were designed in the 1800’s with 90º crossroad grids, the designers, unknowingly, created a phenomenon for people to enjoy through the ages.
Jackie Faherty, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History observed, "Manhattanhenge are the days of the year when the sun hits the bull's-eye," she added, reported The New York Times.
It is a terrific event, with people assembled on the streets of Manhattan (and other ‘Henge’ cities) on around the sunset hour, waiting for the sun to align itself in just the right position and bathe them with the golden glow.
If you missed it this time around, you have just a couple of months before you can catch it again on Jun 11 and 12. Make sure you’re at your chosen observation spot half an hour early, as far to the east as possible. Then watch as the street fills up, and take in the grand sunset from start to finish. I’ve seen it many times, but each time it has a new glow to it.
A man-made miracle!
