The last two days of Manhattanhenge, the twice-yearly alignment of the setting sun with the city’s east-west streets, will be on Wednesday and Thursday.
This event draws New Yorkers out of their apartments to watch the sun cast a rosy light over the city’s canyons.
Fans of the spectacle will need to pray that the clouds separate at the appropriate moment because forecasters are calling for dreary weather.
A watching party will follow Jackie Faherty’s sold-out presentation on Manhattanhenge on Thursday; she is an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History.
“We have had luck in the past when the weather cleared,” she added. “All we need is clear skies at dusk.”
The word “Manhattanhenge” was created by the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the museum, Neil deGrasse Tyson.
He drew inspiration from Stonehenge, where visitors and contemporary Druids set up camp on the summer solstice to observe the sun rise over the ancient stones.
When it occurs for two nights around Memorial Day and another two in the middle of July, Manhattanhenge draws its own Druids.
In order to see the sun’s disc set below the horizon while being perfectly framed by the gleaming towers, devotees line streets like 42nd and 34th streets. There are morning Manhattanhenge days in December and January as well, but Faherty said those have not attracted large audiences due to factors including the hour and the cold.
Boston and Toronto are two additional cities where streets on particular days line up with the sun. Chicagohenge, which occurs at the spring and fall equinoxes, is the most well-known metropolitan “henge” aside from New York’s. Faherty stated that she loves Manhattanhenge because it has more recognizable skyscrapers and the Hudson River to the west offers “a visual break in the landscape of buildings.
Fans will swarm the streets, weather permitting, and capture the waning light on their smartphones and cameras. It’s a beautiful picture in this social media age, Faherty added. “I frequently refer to it as New York City’s Instagram holiday.”ok
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