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The phenomenon is called " Manhattanhenge , " a looseness on Stonehenge . At the English site , the rising sunlight on the summertime solstice wrinkle up with some of the vertical stones of the repository . In New York , Manhattanhengeoccurs twice a year with the full sun and twice a class with the half - sunlight ( when half the Lord’s Day appears below the horizon at the time of sundown ) , typically in May and July . In 2014 , the half - sun Manhattanhenge occur today ( May 29 ) and July 12 . The full - sun Manhattanhenge occurs tomorrow ( May 30 ) and July 11 .
Sunset occurs at 8:18 p.m. ET today , and skywatchers are advised to channelize out about 30 arcminute prior to that time to watch the Lord’s Day descend between the rampart of the urban center ’s steel - and - looking glass canyons . Astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson , who coined the term Manhattanhenge , recommends heading as far east in Manhattan as you’re able to , while still observe New Jersey seeable down the avenues . all-inclusive cross streets like fourteenth , 23rd , 34th , forty-second and 57th cater good showing . And , Mike Tyson note of hand in a web log station on the Hayden Planetarium website , thirty-fourth and forty-second street have the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building , respectively , providing a cerise on top of the solar view . [ Gallery : See Photos of Manhattanhenge Sunsets ]
Why does Manhattanhenge happen but a few times a yr ? As Tyson explains , the breaker point of the sunset wanders across the horizon over the course of the year , due to the tilt of Earth ’s axis . On the spring equinox and the fall equinoctial point , it set at due west . The rest of the time , sundown is slimly off of due west .
Manhattan ’s orderly grid rule is not lined up with the compass , either — it ’s rotated 30 degrees east from true north , Tyson writes . Thus , Manhattanhenge does n’t occur onthe equinoxes , because the cross streets do n’t draw exactly due east - west .
The skyscrapers that make up the New York City skyline do their part to make the event beautiful , rather than just an annoyance to driver traveling toward the sunset . Clouds may plow some Manhattanhenge views tonight , agree to AccuWeather , but there should be light intervals for viewing , too .
To snapthe best sunset photographs , the New York Institute of Photography ( NYIP ) commend usingbracketed shots , mean multiple shots of the same scene using unlike exposure . Sunsets can be tricky to dash , because a camera ’s light meter will take preeminence of the brightness of the sky and underexpose the effigy . Bracketing shots enables the photographer to play with the exposure to find the good expression .
If your camera is n’t manual , you may still do aquick - and - pestiferous versionof bracketing by maneuver your television camera at the sundown and consume a scene , then pointing it at the sky , shut up in the exposure ( usually by promote the shutter - release push button halfway down ) and then recentering the image on the setting sun . Do the same thing again , but focus on the earth first this prison term .
The longer the lens , the bombastic the Sunday will appear in the sky , but the NYIP recommend using a tripod with a long genus Lens to forbid the tv camera from throw off and blurring your beautiful sunset shot . admonition : The prescript about not looking straight at the sun counts twice when peering through a recollective tv camera lens system , so protect your eyes by not looking directly at the sunshine while it ’s still bright yellowed .
