As the Sun sets on July 11, 2012, it will be perfectly aligned with Manhattan’s numbered streets, showering them in light and creating cinema-worthy views. Director of the Hayden Planetarium Neil deGrasse Tyson, who coined the phrase “Manhattanhenge,” has written in his Hayden Planetarium blog: “What will future civilizations think of Manhattan Island when they dig it up and find a carefully laid out network of streets and avenues? Surely the grid would be presumed to have astronomical significance, just as we have found for the pre-historic circle of large vertical rocks known as Stonehenge, in the Salisbury Plain of England.”

Learn the history and simple astronomy behind this unique event in a special presentation at the Hayden Planetarium. The program will be followed by a live viewing of Manhattanhenge outside the Museum.