Manhattanhenge
[Adapted from Newyorkology.com]
Neil deGrasse Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. has been called the grand priest of Manhattanhenge, since he’s the one who discovered the uniquely New York phenomenon, named it, and each year calculates the dates the sun will set in perfect alignment with the street grid.
The 2011 Manhattanhenge dates:
Half-sun on the grid:
Monday, May 30 at 8:17 p.m.
Tuesday, July 12 at 8:25 p.m.
Full-sun on the grid:
Tuesday, May 31 at 8:17 p.m.
Monday, July 11 at 8:25 p.m.
For best views of the Stonehenge-like sunset, deGrasse Tyson suggests showing up half an hour before the times listed. “For Manhattan, a place where evening matters more than morning, that special day comes twice a year,” he writes on the museum’s website. “For 2011 they fall on May 30th, and July 12th, when the setting Sun aligns precisely with the Manhattan street grid, creating a radiant glow of light across Manhattan’s brick and steel canyons, simultaneously illuminating both the north and south sides of every cross street of the borough’s grid. A rare and beautiful sight."
He also jokes that "These two days happen to correspond with Memorial Day and Baseball’s All Star break. Future anthropologists might conclude that, via the Sun, the people who called themselves New Yorkers worshiped War and Baseball.”
The Manhattanhenge dates don’t align with the equinox because Manhattan’s street grid is rotated 30 degrees east from geographic north.
Neil deGrasse Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. has been called the grand priest of Manhattanhenge, since he’s the one who discovered the uniquely New York phenomenon, named it, and each year calculates the dates the sun will set in perfect alignment with the street grid.
The 2011 Manhattanhenge dates:
Half-sun on the grid:
Monday, May 30 at 8:17 p.m.
Tuesday, July 12 at 8:25 p.m.
Full-sun on the grid:
Tuesday, May 31 at 8:17 p.m.
Monday, July 11 at 8:25 p.m.
For best views of the Stonehenge-like sunset, deGrasse Tyson suggests showing up half an hour before the times listed. “For Manhattan, a place where evening matters more than morning, that special day comes twice a year,” he writes on the museum’s website. “For 2011 they fall on May 30th, and July 12th, when the setting Sun aligns precisely with the Manhattan street grid, creating a radiant glow of light across Manhattan’s brick and steel canyons, simultaneously illuminating both the north and south sides of every cross street of the borough’s grid. A rare and beautiful sight."
He also jokes that "These two days happen to correspond with Memorial Day and Baseball’s All Star break. Future anthropologists might conclude that, via the Sun, the people who called themselves New Yorkers worshiped War and Baseball.”
The Manhattanhenge dates don’t align with the equinox because Manhattan’s street grid is rotated 30 degrees east from geographic north.