Here comes the sun(set)!
New York City’s spectacular solar event known as Manhattanhenge will stun city dwellers this week.
The phenomenon takes place only twice a year — before and just after the summer solstice — when the sun sets in perfect alignment with the city streets, creating an Instagram-worthy skyscraper frame.
Photographers and commuters alike will be able to catch the half-disk “Manhattanhenge Effect” – or when the top half of the sun sits above the horizon – at 8:13 p.m. Tuesday, according to Neil deGrasse Tyson.
The full disc, or when all of the sun is visible above the horizon, will be in effect at 8:12 p.m. Wednesday, the famous astrophysicist explained.
Still, Tuesday may be the best bet for a perfect view of the event, as clouds in Wednesday’s forecast threaten to overshadow the sun-centric spectacle.
Either way, the best views will be along Manhattan’s main east-west thoroughfares, including 14th Street, 23rd Street and 34th, 42nd, and 57th streets, according to Tyson.
The picturesque sunset will also be in full view of the Tudor City Overpass in Manhattan and Hunter’s Point South Park in Long Island City, Queens.
Those who miss the May Manhattanhenge will get a second shot in reverse fewer than two months later: The full sun will hover above the horizon at 8:20 p.m. on July 12, and the half sun will hit the grid at 8:21 p.m. on July 13.
“I think of it as astronomy in your face,” astronomer Jackie Faherty told the New York Times.
Faherty, who works with Tyson at the American Museum of Natural History, calculates the dates for Manhattanhenge each year.
“It’s like a huge science party that will occur in the city,” she said.