Manhattanhenge is Back This Month: What It Is, How To Watch

MANHATTAN, NY — Manhattanhenge — an Instagram-worthy phenomenon where the sunset aligns with the east-west streets on Manhattan's grid, creating a striking visual effect — is back this month.

The sun will set directly in the middle of the east-west streets in Manhattan, with a half-sun visible July 11, and the full sun will be visible July 12, according to the American Museum of Natural History.

For both solar events, expect to see lots of people cheering and taking photos.

"You can watch the sun, you can watch the people freaking out, you can watch the cabs get annoyed that there are people in the middle of the street, and people are talking to each other, which so rarely happens in New York," Jackie Faherty, a research scientist and education manager at the museum, told Patch.

The best streets to watch Manhattanhenge are the wider east-west blocks, like 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, and 57th streets, according to the American Museum of Natural History.

The American Museum of Natural History is also marking the final Manhattanhenge of 2026 with a special evening program on July 11.

Faherty will lead a presentation in the museum's LeFrak Giant-Screen Theater exploring the science behind the rare phenomenon, using the museum's OpenSpace visualization software to explain how the setting sun aligns perfectly with Manhattan's street grid.

After the lecture, attendees will head outside for a guided Manhattanhenge viewing as the sun bathes the city in golden light, accompanied by a live performance from the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra.

Though the sun has been setting in the same pattern across our sky since the dawn of time, the excitement around Manhattanhenge is relatively recent.

"Manhattanhenge" was first coined 25 years ago by the American Museum of Natural History-based astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Faherty said, but it didn't become a viral phenomenon until 2009, with crowds filling Midtown intersections to catch a glimpse and an Instagram photo, she said.

"Starting in 2009 or so, when I was a graduate student at the museum, I thought it would be fun for us to start doing a public program on it at the museum and invite people to watch it together. Word started to spread, people started to want a picture, and the event went viral. People even started planning trips to New York to see it," Faherty said.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.