Manhattanhenge New York City
Manhattanhenge 2013
Daily Events in NYC, New York, USA
Home » Events calendar » Manhattanhenge 2013 » info
Manhattanhenge 2013
Top Annual New York City Events | Other New York Annual Events | Popular New York City Celebrations, Parades etc
New York City Calendar of Events (Monthly Events) | New York City Street Fairs
Manhattanhenge 2013
Other events in May 2013
Other events in July 2013
28, 29 May & 12, 13 July 2013
Manhattanhenge (sometimes referred to as Manhattan Solstice) is a semi-annual occurrence in which the setting sun aligns with the east-west streets of Manhattan’s main street grid. The term is derived from Stonehenge, at which the sun aligns with the stones on the solstices. It was coined in 2002 by Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History. It applies to those streets that follow the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811 which laid out a grid offset 28.9 degrees from true east-west.
At sunset, a traveler along one of the north-south avenues on the West Side while looking east can observe the phenomenon indirectly, being struck by the reflected light of the many windows which are aligned with the grid. An observer on the East Side can look west and see the Sun shining down a canyon-like street.
The dates of Manhattanhenge are usually May 28 and July 12 or July 13. The two corresponding mornings of sunrise right on the center lines of the Manhattan grid are approximately December 5 and January 8. As with the solstices and equinoxes, the dates vary somewhat from year to year.
Hours
MAY 2013
Half Sun on grid: Thursday, May 28: 8:17 PM EDT
Full Sun on grid: Friday, May 29: 8:16 PM EDT
JULY 2013
Half Sun on grid: Saturday, July 13: 8:25 PM EDT
Full Sun on grid: Friday, July 12: 8:24 PM EDT