Overview
- A half‑sun alignment occurred on Thursday, May 28, and a full‑sun alignment was expected on Friday, May 29, beginning the Manhattanhenge season that continues through July 12 with repeat alignments on July 11–12.
- The effect happens because Earth’s roughly 23.5° axial tilt moves the sunset point north and south and Manhattan’s grid is rotated about 30°, which shifts the framed sunsets into late May and mid‑July.
- Hayden Planetarium and other observers distinguish a 'half sun' when only the top of the solar disk is visible and a 'full sun' when the entire disk sits between buildings just above the Hudson River horizon.
- Photographers and crowds gather on wide east‑west streets such as 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd and 57th Streets and at Queens vantage points like the Tudor City Overpass and Hunter’s Point South Park, but visibility depends on clear skies.
- The name Manhattanhenge was coined by Neil deGrasse Tyson and the phenomenon is a serendipitous product of the city grid rather than design, with similar 'henge' alignments occurring in other grid cities like Chicago, Baltimore and Toronto.