Manhattanhenge

On September 11, 2014 by Tim Newman

Twice a year Manhattan turns from a modern city into an ancient mystical sundial… sort of. On or around the 28th May and 12th July each year the sun and the skyscrapers align to produce the Manhattan Solstice. Although it probably means less to modern Manhattan folks than the solstice at Stonehenge, it does make for some nice photos.

The term Manhattanhenge was coined by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, a native New Yorker. And, as I’ve mentioned Tyson I may as well pop a couple of his quotes in because he’s a pretty cool fella:

Curious that we spend more time congratulating people who have succeeded than encouraging people who have not.

And…

For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.

Thanks Tyson.

As you can imagine, it’s not only Manhattan that has this kind of a grid system producing this henge effect. A similar henge display can be seen in other places in the Americas, Torontohenge, Chicagohenge and Montrealhenge to name but a few.

There’s no Londonhenge or Manchesterhenge though, because our UK towns and cities are built like the scrawlings of a mad town planner with a slug in each shoe, which I must admit I prefer.