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Manhattanhenge 2008

Earlier posts about the phenomena of Manhattanhenge: overview as well as map, as well as photos.

From the Hayden Planetariums Star Struck email proclamation by astronomer Neal deGrasse Tyson:

Its which time of year again.

MANHATTANHENGE 2008

What will future civilizations consider of Manhattan Island when they puncture it up as well as find the delicately laid out network of streets as well as avenues? Surely the grid would be presumed to have celestial significance, usually as we have found for the pre-historic circle of vast vertical rocks well known as Stonehenge, in the Salisbury Plain of England. For Stonehenge, the special day is the summer solstice, when the Sun rose in perfect fixing with multiform of the stones, signaling the change of season.

For Manhattan, the place where dusk matters some-more than morning, which special day comes upon Thursday, May 29h this year, one of usually dual occasions when the Sun sets in exact fixing with the Manhattan grid, entirely educational every single cross-street for the last fifteen mins of daylight. The other day is Saturday, Jul 12th.

These dual days give we the photogenic perspective with half the Sun upon top of as well as half the Sun next the horizon upon the grid. The day after May 29th (Friday, May 30th), as well as the day before Jul twelve (Friday, Jul 11) will additionally give we Manhattanhenge moments, but instead we will see the entire round of the Sun upon the horizon upon the grid. My personal welfare is the half-Sun.

As we might know, had Manhattans grid been ideally aligned with the geographic north-south line, afterwards the days of Manhattanhenge would be the open as well as autumn equinoxes, the usually dual days upon the monthly calendar ! when the Sun rises due-east as well as sets due-west. But Manhattans travel grid is rotated thirty degrees east from geographic north, changeable the days of fixing elsewhere into the calendar.

Note which any city crossed by the rectangular grid can brand days where the environment Sun aligns with their streets. But the closer demeanour during such cities around the universe shows them to be less than preferred for this purpose. Beyond the grid we need the clear perspective to the horizon, as we have over New Jersey. And high buildings which line the streets create the kind of section as well as steel channel to support the environment Sun, formulating the striking photographic opportunity.

True, some municipalities have streets declared after the Sun, like Sunrise Highway upon Long Island as well as the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. But these roads are not ideally straight. And the integrate of times the year when the Sun aligns with one of their stretches of road, all we get is stalled trade solar glisten temporarily blinds drivers.

So Manhattanhenge might usually be the singular urban phenomenon in the world, if not the universe.

Note which the integrate of years ago, an article in the New York Times identified this annual eventuality as the Manhattan Solstice. But of course, the word solstice translates from the Latin solstitium, meaning stopped sun, in anxiety to the winter as well as summer solstices where the Suns every day arc across the sky reaches the extreme southerly as well as northerly limits. Manhattanhenge comes about since the Suns arc has *not* yet reached these limits, as well as is upon track to them, as we catch the short glimpse of the environment Sun along the canyons of the narrow streets.

IMPORTANT: ! For best effect, in front of yourself as distant east in Manhattan as possible. But safeguard which when we demeanour west across the avenues we can still see New Jersey. Clear cranky streets embody 14th, 23rd, 34th. 42nd, 57th, as well as multiform streets diagonally opposite to them. The Empire State office office building as well as the Chrysler office office building describe 34th travel as well as 42nd streets especially striking vistas.

Arrive the half-hour earlier than the times since below.

MAY

Half Sun upon grid: Thursday, May twenty-nine 8:17 p.m. EDT
Full Sun upon grid: Friday, May thirty 8:16 p.m. EDT

JULY

Half Sun upon grid: Saturday, July twelve 8:25 p.m. EDT
Full Sun upon grid: Friday, July eleven 8:24 p.m. EDT

Downloadable Image of the Jul 2001 Manhattan Sunset as it first appeared in 2002 among the photo-essays of City of Stars, Natural History magazine:

http://research.amnh.org/users/tyson/ManhattanSunset.php

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Long Island City Sundial Second Manhattanhenge of 2008 says:

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Jul 11th, 2008 during 10:37 am

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