Four nights a year, the streets of Manhattan’s grid become the site for a spectacular sunset phenomenon known as “Manhattanhenge.” As Director of the Hayden Planetarium Neil deGrasse Tyson, who discovered the phenomenon and coined the term “Manhattanhenge,” explains in his Hayden Planetarium blog, Manhattanhenge takes place “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.”
View Manhattanhenge tonight at 8:17 pm and tomorrow at 8:16 pm. Tweet your photos of the phenomenon @AMNH with the hashtag #Manhattanhenge or email them to comments@amnh.org for a chance to win two tickets to our Manhattanhenge program on July 11.
Photo courtesy of Katie Killary
