When New York gathers for its annual solar spectacle, Manhattanhenge

What could New York, one of the world’s most diverse urban sprawls, possibly have in common with Stonehenge, a 5,000-year-old Neolithic structure in Wiltshire, England? The sun—Stonehenge was built to align with the movement of the sun, and every summer, New York City witnesses the “Manhattanhenge effect”.

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”, according to the American Museum of Natural History.

The phenomenon was first described by Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History and a native New Yorker, in 1997 in the magazine Natural History. In an interview, he later said he was inspired by a childhood visit to Stonehenge when he coined the term.

Also read: 7 tech essentials to pack for your next trip

The solar spectacle takes place courtesy the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, the original design for the rectangular grid plan of streets and lots in Manhattan. Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History, says that a bull’s-eye for the sun to hit was created “as soon as they laid down the grid of Manhattan, making the avenues long that are roughly north-south, and 90-degree angles to the cross streets”.

The sun “kisses the grid” only on four days of the year—before and after summer solstice, meaning two days each in May and July. On these days, the concrete jungle of New York is lit up beautifully by golden hour light. The annual event brings New Yorkers together to celebrate longer days, warmer weather and epic summer sunsets.

Faherty, who computes the dates for Manhattanhenge each year, says the event is “a lesson in Astronomy 101: a reminder that we live on a rock that is spinning at a tilt as it swiftly moves through space in orbit around the sun”. In May, the effect was visible on two days—the top half of the sun aligned with the city grid on 28 May, despite the clouds somewhat obscuring the sunset. On 29 May, the full sun shone bright.

For July, Faherty announced two dates and times: 8.21pm, 12 July (full sun) and 8.21pm, 13 July (half sun). On both days, standing in the middle of any of the numbered east-to-west streets on the grid and looking west allows a look at the sun sitting on the horizon, amidst the sky-kissing skyscrapers.

Olivia Costas, who has been working at a French-Mediterranean restaurant at 14th Street Union Square for three years, says the annual event “brings the streets of Manhattan alive with tourists and locals looking for the best view of the setting sun, flanked by the city’s famous streetscapes”.

The epic sunsets are best viewed from Manhattan’s main east/west thoroughfares, with 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd and 57th Streets offering the best spots. Faherty offers a tip on her “mecca of Manhattanhenge”: 42nd Street.

A similar phenomenon is seen in other cities with a uniform street grid and an unhindered view of the horizon. These include Chicagohenge (on the dates of the equinoxes), Strasbourghenge (the sun lines up with the spire of the cathedral in October), Torontohenge (16 February and 25 October), and Milton Keynes-henge (where the main street frames the rising sun on the June solstice). But Manhattanhenge stands out as the skyscrapers kiss the sky against a supremely clear horizon, thanks to the Hudson river.

Teja Lele writes on travel and lifestyle.

Also read: Savouring the multicultural food pie of New York