City awaits 'Manhattanhenge'
By Justin Rocket Silverman
amNewYork Staff Writer
May 26, 2006
About 5,000 years ago, an ancient people on the British Islands built Stonehenge to directly catch the rays of the summer-solstice sun.
About 200 years ago, the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 laid out a grid of 155 parallel streets on the island of Manhattan, and created a Stonehenge-like array that would directly catch the sun's rays on May 28 and July 12.
Thus was born "Manhattanhenge," a happy coincidence of urban planning and astrophysics that occurs when the setting sun lines up exactly with every parallel street north of 14th Street.
"People never stop to think that this will happen, but it's happening this Sunday, so take the opportunity to appreciate it," said Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History. "New Yorkers need to take advantage of as many opportunities to look at the sky as they can get."
If the streets of Manhattan were lined up in true east-west lines, as Stonehenge is, the sun would set directly along them on June 21. But what New Yorkers commonly call "east" and "west," are actually about 30 degrees off. Thus Manhattanhenge falls this Sunday, which is forecast to be sunny, and again in July.
"It was a disturbing day when I learned everything we call 'north' in New York is actually northeast," said Tyson. "But what we are left with is an inadvertent homage to the sky."
The astrophysicist also pointed out some people wishing to appreciate Manhattanhenge mistakenly stand on 12th Avenue and end up watching the sun set over New Jersey. The real spectacle, of course, is reserved for those who stand on First Avenue and gaze west as the sun sets neatly between the buildings.
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