Manhattanhenge – a unique phenomenon unlike any other

Sometimes, you are there at the right place, at the right time. Sometimes, you click a snap without understanding its significance, except for the fact that it looked like an interesting shot. Sometimes, you learn a new word like Manhattanhenge.

Surfing through my Instagram feed, I came upon an excellent snap of the sun setting on one of Manhattan’s streets. And that is where I learned about Manhattanhenge. If you would have asked me another time, I would have said it’s somewhere near, or something related to Stonehenge.

I rummaged through my collection to see if I had anything half as good as his shot. And while not there at all, I did manage to get my snaps taken on the 12th of July 2015, the exact date when Manhattanhenge occurred.

Manhattanhenge may be among the most unique urban phenomenon anywhere in the world. It is when the setting sun or the rising sun aligns precisely with the east-west streets of the main street grid of Manhattan. And for just a short period, the city comes alive with a radiant glow of light, simultaneously lighting up the north and south side of every cross street in the borough. One can thank the city planners for carefully laid out streets and avenues for this. It usually happens four times a year. Twice around the summer solstice when the sun is setting and twice around the winter solstice when the sun is rising.

While some have identified it as the Manhattan Solstice, it isn’t. Solstice, from the Latin solstitium, means a stopped sun. This is because the sun’s daily arc during the winter and summer solstices reaches its most extreme southernly and northernly limits. On the contrary, Manhattanhenge occurs because the sun’s arc has not reached its limit just yet.