Happy ManhattanHenge | Hacker News Reader

Happy ManhattanHenge

abc7ny.com

46 pointsbrudgers22 comments

FWIW, if you actually want to participate in this, be advised that you have to get there extremely early to get a good spot. I remember going out in 2009 about a couple hours early and the main spots (such as the Tudor overpass [0], which is elevated over a main street and is situated about as far east as you can go without being in the river) were already staked out by folks with tripods and telephoto lens.

I ended up hopping in a cab and having the cab driver go up and down the midtown streets. Didn't get any iconic shots [1] but it was fun, as the cab driver was really into it. But even 7 years ago, pre-Instagram, crowds of people would step out in front of traffic to get a shot of Manhattanhenge.

Uber wasn't around back then. I wonder if you could get better shots than I did from the back of a taxi by riding shotgun?

[0] https://foursquare.com/v/tudor-city-overpass/4fc6addde4b0115...

[1] From my Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=32451477@N02&q=manhattanhen...

I always find it funny that the summer ManhattanHenges (there are two, one as the sun's inclination increases and one as it decreases) are so celebrated, yet the winter versions of the phenomena (when the sun lines up with the city grid at sunrise) are ignored. As someone who used to have to drive uphill along one of Manhattan's streets during my winter morning commute, they were far more noticeable/annoying.

I had an astronomy prof who cancelled morning classes on the days where the sun lined up with the roads. He even lobbied the university to make it some sort of road safety holiday.

If I had a time machine one of the things I'd do is go three thousand years into the future and laugh at the archeologists who speculate about our culture's obsession with astronomy because we built this "religious monument" that aligns with the sun on a particular day of the year.

Most things that run East/West will align on some day by pure chance. But the sites and research you seem to be mocking align on specific days like solstices or equinoxes.

If I had a time machine I'd go back and convince them to align the grid more perfectly, so that it happened precisely at the solstices instead of just before/after.

But this way, you get double the Manhattanhenge. Seems like a good trade to me!

One theory is that archaic Manhattanites celebrated a long midsummer religious holiday. It began with the sun rising between the temples and ended weeks later with its setting between the temples. Of course, the constraints of underwater archeology makes definitive interpretation difficult.

> The term "Manhattanhenge" was coined by Museum of Natural History Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Really? Him? He was the first to make that link? Or was he simply the first to use the term on television.

Time to listen to "The Chemistry of Common Life" [1]

[1] http://matablog.matadorrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/1...

We need to come up with a better name as this happens in all cities with East-West roads.

Concretehenge?

Manhattan's East-West streets are not laid out due East/West. They're actually 29 degrees clockwise of the true cardinal directions!

So these dates are particular to Manhattan.

I take it this was due to the magnetic North at the time perhaps?

It's because the roads are aligned with the axes of the island itself, and the island doesn't face north-south

That is a fun fact, and also explains why manhattanhenge only happens at sunset and not also sunrise. A true east-west sunrise/sunset occurs at the equinoxes (Spring and Fall)

It does happen at sunrise, just on different dates, around the Winter solstice

It does happen at sunrise roughly 18 days before and after the winter solstice. (Dec 3 and Jan 10)

unless it happens in all cities on the same day probably wouldn't make sense since you'd have to qualify i.e. "SunHenge in Manhattan"

Huh, we were just talking about this looking at the sunset behind Manhattan across the river from Brooklyn yesterday. Didn't know it was almost the exact day it happens.

>The sun sets on 23th Street during 'Manhattanhenge' on July 11, 2014 in New York City. (Getty)

>on 23th Street

>23th

good job abc

Nothing wrong with the sentiment, but the 4chan style isn't going to win you friends here.

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