This long Memorial Day weekend, Manhattanhenge occurs two times: Sunday, May 29, a half sun at 8:13 p.m. Eastern time. Monday, May 30, a full sun at 8:12 p.m. The name is a New Yorker-style nod to Stonehenge, the ancient rock structure in the English countryside that aligns with the sunsets and sunrises during the summer and winter solstices. That pre-modern monument was purposely built for religious and spiritual reasons. In contrast, the grid of New York City was not designed with sunsets in mind, but it has ended up functioning in a similar manner. Across four days every May and July, it can bring people together to admire our particular geographic location in the cosmos as the sun settles into the horizon, disappearing perfectly along the city’s broad west-east corridors. An event like Manhattanhenge can halt the entire borough, beckoning people to celebrate an otherwise normal daily sunset.
Via New York Times site
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