Manhattanhenge is coming back this month.
On May 28 and May 29, the midpoint of the setting sun will align perfectly with Manhattan’s grid, flooding the canyon of buildings with its rays. The final day of Manhattanhenge comes on July 12.
In between, a Manhattanhenge effect will still be on display.
“ Everybody that listens to anything you say needs to look for sunsets every day between May 28 and July 12,” said Jackie Faherty, astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History. “They’re the best sunsets of the year in Manhattan.”
Manhattanhenge occurs when the sun starts setting north enough in the sky that it shines onto the city’s crosstown streets. The result is a spectacular view of the sun dipping into the narrow chasms created by the rows of high-rise buildings.
The best way to view the marvelous sunset is on cross-streets like 42nd and 72nd streets. The Tudor City overpass is one of the most popular spots, but the North Brooklyn and Queens waterfronts also have good vantage points, including Hunter’s Point and Gantry Plaza State Park.
The event’s climax occurs around 8:15 p.m. on May 28 and 29. Faherty, who is tasked with calculating the times and days for Manhattanhenge, recommended arriving at a viewing spot by 7:30 p.m. at the latest.
After nightfall, New Yorkers can search the evening skies for shooting stars. The Eta Aquarids meteor shower will peak on May 5 with 10 meteors per hour, traveling at 40 miles per second. Outside the city in darker sites, it’s possible to see as many as 30 fireballs hourly. The light show will continue through May 21.
Another mini meteor shower will occur around the peak of the Eta Aquarids. The Eta Lyrids has only three meteors per hour and runs from May 5-8.
“Just make sure you’re looking up before you go to bed because all you need is one really, really good one that gets either kind of lower in the atmosphere or it’s a little bit bigger and it burns bright, and it just shocks you,” Faherty said.
A human-made object will also be visible in the heavens: the International Space Station, which resembles a large bright spot when viewed with the naked eye. At first glance, the fast glowing orb can easily be mistaken for a plane without flashing lights. New Yorkers can see the orbiting station nightly through May 13. The appearances are usually in the predawn hours, but it will pass by in the evenings on May 10-13. The sightings last between one and seven minutes. For times, days, durations of sightings and which direction to look in the sky, check NASA’s “Spot the Station” tracker.
“It is the third-brightest object in the sky and easy to spot if you know when to look up,” NASA writes on its site. “The space station looks like a fast-moving plane, only flies much higher, and travels thousands of miles an hour faster!”
At the beginning of the month, the deep sapphire-blue star Vega will begin to appear in the night sky in the east. Vega is 25 light years away from Earth, making it one of our closest stars. Another colorful star to look out for is Regulus, which is a very bright blue dot located in the constellation Leo. On May 5, it will be next to the moon.
“Right after sunset, [Vega] will be low on your horizon, so just keep staring at the horizon until you see a star really pop out,” Faherty said.
For a deeper look into the universe, the Amateur Astronomers Association is hosting the free Spring Star Fest on May 9 at 7 p.m. in Evergreens Cemetery in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Stargazers can look through powerful telescopes to observe celestial wonders and get additional information from experts. Jupiter, Mars and star clusters will be visible. The rain date for the event is May 30.
