MANHATTAN (WPIX) — Get your camera ready because Manhattanhenge is making a comeback this week.
The spectacular photo op will happen on Monday night and Tuesday night at about 8:20 p.m. ET.
Viewers can head to specific cross-streets in Manhattan to catch the sunset align with New York City’s street grid. Monday’s will feature a full sun, while there will be a half-sun Manhattanhenge on Tuesday.
The best streets to view Manhattanhenge in Manhattan are 14th Street, 23rd Street, 34th Street, 42nd Street and 57th Street, according to the American Museum of Natural History.
Manhattanhenge can also be viewed from the Tudor City Overpass in Manhattan and Hunter’s Point South Park in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens.
People interested in snapping a pic should head out early. Crowds gather at prime locations each year.
TOPSHOT – The sun sets as seen from 42nd street in Times Square in New York City on July 12, 2018 during Manhattanhenge. – Manhattanhenge, sometimes also referred to as Manhattan Solstice, is a biannual natural event during which the sun is perfectly aligned with Manhattan’s numbered streets. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images) 
A woman takes a photo from the sunroof of a car as the sun sets as seen from 42nd street in Times Square in New York City on July 12, 2018 during Manhattanhenge. – Manhattanhenge, sometimes also referred to as Manhattan Solstice, is a biannual natural event during which the sun is perfectly aligned with Manhattan’s numbered streets. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images) 
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 12: S.Pellegrino hosts the first-of-its-kind Manhattanhenge viewing celebration high above the streets of New York on July 12, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Pont/Getty Images for S.Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water) 
People take pictures of the sun setting over Manhattan on 42nd Street during the so called “Manhattanhenge” on July 12, 2019 in New York City. – Manhattanhenge happens four times each year, when when the sun rises or sets in New York City parallel to the city street grid in Manhattan. (Photo by Johannes EISELE / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images) 
The sun sets along 42nd Street, during the so called “Manhattanhenge”, on July 13, 2020 in New York City. – The so called Manhattanhenge happens four times each year, when when the sun rises or sets in New York City parallel to the city street grid in Manhattan. (Photo by Johannes EISELE / AFP) (Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images) 
The sun rises above 42nd Street during a reverse ‘Manhattanhenge’ in New York, New York photographed from Weehawken, New Jersey on November 24, 2021. – ‘Manhattanhenge’ is a phenomenon during which the setting sun or the rising sun is aligned with the eastwest streets of the main street grid of Manhattan, New York City. (Photo by Yuki IWAMURA / AFP) (Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images) 
People take pictures as the sun sets over Manhattan on 42nd street on Memorial Day during the “Manhattanhenge” in New York, May 30, 2022. – The Manhattanhenge is an event in which the sunset or sunrise is aligned on the east-west grid of main streets in Manhattan, New York. (Photo by Yuki IWAMURA / AFP) (Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images) 
People take pictures as the sun sets over Manhattan on 42nd street on Memorial Day during the “Manhattanhenge” in New York, May 30, 2022. – The Manhattanhenge is an event in which the sunset or sunrise is aligned on the east-west grid of main streets in Manhattan, New York. (Photo by Yuki IWAMURA / AFP) (Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)
WHERE DOES THE NAME MANHATTANHENGE COME FROM?
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson coined the term in a 1997 article in the magazine Natural History. Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, has said that he was inspired by a visit to Stonehenge as a teenager.
The future host of TV shows like PBS’ “Nova ScienceNow” was part of an expedition led by Gerald Hawkins, the scientist who first theorized that Stonehenge’s mysterious megaliths were an ancient astronomical observatory.
It struck Tyson, a native New Yorker, that the setting sun framed by Manhattan’s highrises could be compared to the sun’s rays striking the center of the Stonehenge circle on the solstice.
WHEN IS MANHATTANHENGE?
Manhattanhenge does not take place on the summer solstice itself, which was June 21 this year. Instead, it happens about three weeks before the solstice and again about three weeks after. That’s when the sun aligns itself perfectly with the Manhattan grid’s east-west streets.
For 2022, peak Manhattanhenge occurred at 8:12 p.m. May 30 and takes place again at 8:20 p.m. Monday. That’s when the full sun appears to hover between buildings just before sinking into the Hudson River.
On the days before and after — May 29 and July 12 this year — the top half of the sun’s disk sits above the horizon and the top half is below at the precise moment of alignment.
DO OTHER CITIES HAVE ‘HENGES’?
Similar effects occur in other cities with uniform street grids. Chicagohenge and Baltimorehenge happen when the setting sun lines up with the grid systems in those cities during March and September, around the spring and fall equinoxes. Torontohenge occurs around Feb. 16 and Oct. 25.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
