‘Manhattanhenge’ draws New Yorkers to the streets – here’s what you need to know
Crowds gathered in New York on Tuesday evening as onlookers tried to catch a glimpse of ‘Manhattanhenge’.
The solar event that brings New Yorkers to the streets twice a year will continue tonight before disappearing from the skies once again.
So what is ‘Manhattanhenge’?
New York City is built on a grid. It’s a practical way of city planning, but also means that in May and July some of its long, straight streets become filled with light equally on both sides.
The setting sun perfectly lines up with Manhattan’s grid. Pic: Reuters
It gets its name from Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. During the summer solstice, Stonehenge comes to life as the sun aligns with its standing rocks.
In a similar way, the streets of Manhattan fill with golden light when the setting sun perfectly aligns with the city’s grid.
The phenomenon draws thousands of people out to try and catch a glimpse – and to get a good photo.
Revellers gathered at Stonehenge last year to celebrate the summer solstice. Pic: AP
Clouds thwarted them last night however, and the sun was mostly obscured.
There’ll be one more opportunity tonight, although the Met Office predicts the skies will be partially cloudy.
‘Manhattanhenge’ will then return on 12 and 13 July.
The American Museum of Natural History recommends 14th Street, 23rd Street, 34th Street, 42nd Street and 57th Street as good spots to watch the sunset.
“Find a spot as far east as possible that still has views of New Jersey across the Hudson River,” it says in a blog post on the phenomenon.
Onlookers try to grab a snap of ‘Manhattanhenge’ on 28 May. Pic: Reuters
Why does it happen?
The point at which the sun sets on the horizon creeps north until the summer solstice, on 20 July this year, and then moves back south. This is because the Earth tilts on its axis as it rotates around the sun.
“Manhattanhenge may be a unique urban phenomenon in the world,” according to the American Museum of Natural History because the borough has a clear view of the horizon unlike many grid cities and its roads are perfectly straight.
It’s a special year for astronomy in the US.
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Last month, people across the US, Canada and Mexico were treated to a total solar eclipse. People cried and cheered as the sun became obscured by the moon.
Then, earlier this month, night owls around the northern hemisphere got a surprise treat as the Northern Lights lit up the sky.
The sun is in its most active period in its 11-year cycle, meaning there may be more Northern Lights displays in the very near future.
A Mexican navy ship has hit the Brooklyn Bridge during a promotional tour in New York City.
The New York Fire Department said authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports that at least three people were seriously injured in the incident.
The Mexican navy said in a post on X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in the accident, which has prevented it from continuing its voyage.
Eyewitness video of the collision posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a large Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge.
Pic: AP
The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.
The Mexican navy said the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.
The Cuauhtemoc is about 297ft long and 40ft wide, according to the Mexican navy. It sailed for the first time in 1982.
Pic: AP
Each year, it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.
It left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on 6 April with 277 people onboard, the navy said at the time.
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One person has died in a bomb explosion near a reproductive health clinic in California, authorities have said.
The incident took place in Palm Springs, a city two hours east of Los Angeles, and is being investigated as a possible car explosion.
The city’s mayor Ron DeHarte said one person died in the blast, adding that the bomb was “either in or near” a vehicle. The deceased’s identity is not known, Palm Springs police said.
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers clinic, told the Associated Press his facility was damaged but all staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the office space where the practice conducts patient consultations, but the IVF lab and stored embryos were unharmed, he added.
“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Debris covers the ground after the explosion. Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
In a statement posted on Facebook the clinic said it was “heartbroken” to learn someone died in the explosion and added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.”
It continued: “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is.
“In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope – because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care.
The clinic will be fully operational on Monday, it added.
“This moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us. We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world,” the statement concluded.
Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
The Palm Springs city government said in a post on Facebook that the explosion happened on North Indian Canyon Drive, near East Tachevah Drive, before 11am local time (6pm GMT).
A burned-out car can be seen in a parking lot behind the building in aerial footage.
The blast caved in the clinic’s roof and blew debris across four lanes of the road.
Another person said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
Nima Tabrizi said: “The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke.”
Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are travelling to the scene to help assess what happened.
California governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said.
A former FBI director has been interviewed by the US Secret Service over a social media post that Republicans say was a call for violence against President Donald Trump.
James Comey, who led the FBI from 2013 until he was fired in 2017 by Mr Trump during his first term in office, shared a photo of seashells appearing to form the numbers “86 47”.
James Comey later removed the Instagram post. File pic: AP
He captioned the Instagram post: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Some have interpreted the post as a threat, alleging that 86 47 means to violently remove Mr Trump from office, including by assassination.
Mr Comey later removed the post, saying he thought the numbers “were a political message” and that he was not aware that the numeric arrangement could be associated with violence.
“I didn’t realise some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down,” Mr Comey said.
Mr Trump rejected the former FBI director’s explanation, telling Fox News: “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant… that meant assassination.”
Donald Trump Jr accused Mr Comey of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered”.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed in a post on X that Mr Comey had been interviewed as part of “an ongoing investigation” but gave no indication of whether he might face further action.
The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich said Mr Comey had put out “what can clearly be interpreted as a hit on the sitting president of the United States”.
“This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously,” Mr Budowich wrote on X.
Another White House official James Blair said the post was a “Clarion Call (…) to terrorists & hostile regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels in the Middle East”.
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Mr Trump fired Mr Comey in May 2017 for botching an investigation into 2016 democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the White House said at the time.
While Mr Comey was the director of the FBI, the agency opened an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia to help get Mr Trump elected.
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