Freethought Nation

presented by Acharya S and Truth Be Known, online since 1995

Home Contributing Writers Acharya S/D.M. Murdock Manhattanhenge: New York's 'magical' astronomical alignments

Manhattanhenge: New York's 'magical' astronomical alignments

E-mail Print PDF

Here's a short article about a phenomenon that demonstrates astronomical alignment of buildings even in a modern city. Popular astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is quoted here about "Manhattanhenge," a term he coined almost a decade ago. However, I would be very surprised if Manhattan is the only city in the world with astronomical alignments. Certainly, many of the world's older cities possessed various such alignments, frequently in conjunction with religious structures.This latter development can be described as "astrotheological." It's great to see mainstream (and atheistic) scientists like Dr. Tyson discussing this fascinating subject, although it's too bad many others haven't followed suit.

The original article is in French, so I have provided a translation.

New York: 'Magical' alignment of the sun with the streets of Manhattan

The Big Apple will be illuminated Wednesday by a particular sunset in which the sun's rays perfectly aligned with the street layout will engulf the facades of skyscrapers in New York. This phenomenon, which began Tuesday, occurs four times a year in Manhattan.

It has been nicknamed "Manhattanhenge," a reference to the Stonehenge megalithic site located in the south of England. During the summer and winter solstices, the sun passes along a central axis through this site of stone circles, with historians thinking that the place was used as a solar calendar or for pagan cults.

In Manhattan, the phenomenon takes place before and after the solstices, when the sun sets ablaze all available perspectives at the end of the streets built from East to West.

"Manhattanhenge may be a phenomenon that occurs only in one city in the world," said astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, of the American Museum of Natural History, who claims the label of this phenomenon.

The man looked at the issue in 1996. It wasn't until five years later, in July 2001, that he photographed the alignment of the sun with the streets. In 2002, he published new pictures in a special edition of the magazine Natural History. Thus the phenomenon became known.

This year, the first appearance of "Manhattanhenge" occurred on May 30, just before the solstice of June 21. It happens again Wednesday, July 13, with a partial appearance on Tuesday.

The best place to enjoy [this phenomenon] is to be as far east as possible in Manhattan, advises DeGrasse Tyson. 14th, 23rd, 34th and 42nd streets offer incredible perspectives of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler tower.

Further Reading/Viewing

Manhattanhenge

Video about Manhattanhenge and other modern sites

Comments (10)
  • FTL
    "...many of the world's older cities possessed various such alignments, frequently in conjunction with religious structures.This latter development can be described as "astrotheological.""

    Very interesting.

    "It's great to see mainstream (and atheistic) scientists like Dr. Tyson discussing this fascinating subject, although it's too bad many others haven't followed suit."

    Yes indeed, over the years I've witnessed many militant atheists attack you, Acharya S, over these astrotheological issues. The worlds most famous atheists know nothing about it. It's unfortunate because they stand to learn so much from your work.

    Richard Dawkins on ZEITGEIST, Part 1

    Richard Carrier on Zeitgeist part 1

    American Atheist Plagiarizes Acharya's Work?

    Another Nasty "Atheist Experience"

    Acharya's Work Complements Sam Harris's Philosophy

    It's refreshing to see a scientist like Dr. Tyson take a look and coin the word "Manhattanhenge."

    I'd love to see academia add a new Department of Astrotheological Studies across top universities. Archaeoastronomy was only recently added as a new department in the mid 90's. People don't realize that nobody in academia is really looking into these astrotheological origins of religious concepts. Which is a monumental disservice because it offers an Occam's razor explanation.
  • Arhata  - Manhattahenge
    :whistle: I worked for 4 years in the lower right building on 42nd st.
  • alasdair  - Is that so?
    Slow off the mark eh?

    View Washington,Paris,London, Melbourne or even the giant sundial
    called St Peters Square in Rome. It's all Sun-Worship.

    The reason there are so many astrological alignments is because humanity has been hijacked by luciferians, under the guise of freemasonry.

    Illuminated?

    Do the research.
  • Robert  - ...
    I'm so glad I don't have to worry about this happening where I live.
  • openmind
    Illuminated indeed. :evil:

    Penny: you have a LOT more research to do. Especially when it comes to the impact of shapes (and subliminals) on the human mind, that idiot box emitting alpha waves into you called a 'TV' (Look at the Patents Office website for 'mind control devices in TVs-Laugh now-cry later), and occultism-and how most of our 'leaders' worldwide are part of some secretive fraternity (Bush/Kerry=Skull and Bones, Hitler=Thule, Stalin).

    You could even....do your own research on the Bohemian Grove-Who reported by San Francisco newspapers online RIGHT NOW talking about the protestors gathering there-and how most politicians DONT DENY participation in these exclusive all-male 'festivities' in private inside. David Gergen told the NY Times and I quote "I don't run around naked like they do." when asked about the grove.

    Don't trust any of them. They damn sure don't trust you-look at how many rights they have taken over what the terrorist directly from you since 2001.

    STAGGERING.

    Welcome to a brave new world young one.
  • Penny
    Despite your assumptions that I'm young and can't possibly know anything; I'm fully aware of the Bohemian Grove issue as well as the Skull & Bones secret society. We can agree that those are weird and I'd like to see more transparency. However, lets not just gloss over the fact that Alex Jones first filmed that. He himself a Christian who loves conspiracies and claims to debunk this or that about government and religion. Meanwhile, he rigidly adheres to Christianity as a devotee. So, he fails to objectively examine one of the biggest scams of our day, Christianity. His credibility on these issues was ruined long ago.

    The problem is that people take that info and make giant leaps of faith with it quite selectively in order to serve their own extremely biased agenda. You, and others like the comment above, merely insist on the fallacy known as poisoning the well by making broad stroke generalizations in attempts to paint all sun worship, nature worship, solar mythology, archaeoastronomy and astrotheology as some big bad evil Satanic/Luciferian monster, and it's patently false. It's a blatant display of a severe lack of knowledge (ignorance) on the subject mixed in with superstition and paranoia on steroids.

    The fact is that we live on this planet, and for thousands of years people all over the world have observed their natural surroundings, revering the sun, for example, for bringing light, warmth and life to our earth. The ancients also venerated the moon, planets, stars, constellations and milky-way too. Associating all this other junk with natural observations is an error, plain and simple.

    The fact remains that the ancients were able to be successful in agriculture when they figured out the cycles of the sun and seasons. It helped them figure out the best times for planting, harvesting as well as celebrations such as the winter and summer solstices and the equinoxes. Hence, Christmas and Easter. I don't hear very many Christians complaining about Christmas and Easter even though they originated with Pagan religion thousands of years before Christianity was ever created.

    So, this ancient knowledge is a vital part of human history and ancestry. To treat it like you hate it or like it's purely malevolent is merely self-hatred and hatred of your very own human past. Were it not for this knowledge humans would still be hunter/gatherers. Is that what you'd prefer?

    So yes, it most certainly appears that it is *YOU* who have a mountain of studying to do.
  • Bryan  - Awesome pictures
    Manhattanhenge may just be a unique urban phenomenon in the world, if not the universe. To get the best view of the rare and beautiful sight, you need to be as far east in Manhattan as possible and look west across the avenues.
  • TRUTH
    @PENNY

    Yes it is true that Christianity is pagan in origin but that doesn't take away from the Bible because Christianity ISN'T BASED ON THE BIBLE. Constantine hijacked the true gospel of the Bible in 325 A.D under the Council of Nicea. That is when paganism was mixed into "Christian beliefs". The Zeitgeist is a false deception to merely keep you out of the Bible. It relies on the notion of the "Virgin Birth" & tries to tie that in with that of other mother son "Virgin Birth" stories from other religions but....what they don't tell you is the word "virgin" in the Bible doesn't mean a person who hasn't had sex, but instead a young woman of marriageable age. So Mary the Mother of Christ did indeed have sex with Joseph to bring forth Christ. The Bible makes this clear in Acts 2:30 & Romans 1:3 which both say Christ was made from "the SEED" of David. That word "seed" in the Greek translates to "Sperma" or what we know today as Sperm.

    My point being, don't try to use these falsified theories of men (who worship Satan) to discredit the Bible because usually those that do this have never read the Bible for themselves & only go on what they have been told. If you have read the Bible then please show me 1 contradiction you read & not something you found on Google.

    The Bible said the Euphrates River would begin to dry up in the last days & that is happening now...Google it. The Bible said rivers & water would turn to blood & that is happening now...Google it. Christ said there would be earthquakes in diverse places while there is wars & rumors of wars & famines & pestilences, all going on right now. Your nature scientists are completely stumped as to why all the mass animal deaths by the millions all around the world but the Bible predicted it & makes perfect sense of it.

    So when the Bible says that nature loving sun worship is pagan & is of Satan, then it is just as it says. So "Openmind" was right but I just so happen to have the educated juice to prove it. And don't listen to the history channel because it's more lies than truth.

    Ok rant over.
    Shalom
  • Anonymous
    "The Zeitgeist is a false deception to merely keep you out of the Bible."

    More lies from the human hating, nature hating CULT of Christianity. It's an embarrassment to humanity to watch people go around making these types of claims. The makers of Zeitgeist welcome people to read the bible. Must of the evidence for Zeitgeist is IN THE BIBLE.

    "The Bible makes this clear in Acts 2:30 & Romans 1:3 which both say Christ was made from "the SEED" of David. That word "seed" in the Greek translates to "Sperma" or what we know today as Sperm."

    Actually, neither mention "seed" except in the inaccurate KJV of Romans. But, who cares? What does that have to do with this blog? Actually, I don't care and I'm not interested in your opinion on this here. My point being, stop trying to hi-jack this blog to proselytize.

    "don't try to use these falsified theories of men (who worship Satan) to discredit the Bible because usually those that do this have never read the Bible for themselves & only go on what they have been told. If you have read the Bible then please show me 1 contradiction you read & not something you found on Google."

    I am soooo sick of home-schooled psycho's with a room temperature IQ trying to label anyone who criticizes the bible as "Satan worshippers." I am a former saved, baptized Christian of many many years who worked very hard studying the bible and its original languages. I can't count how many times I've ran into fundamentalist bigots like yourself always assuming the worst about people.

    Here's a list of bible contradictions from a former 20 year pastor:

    Bible Contradictions
    http://ffrf.org/legacy/books/lfif/?t=contra

    "The Bible said the Euphrates River would begin to dry up in the last days & that is happening now...Google it....."

    As has happened before; there's nothing biblical about it. Ever hear about "red tide" it's old news and happens every now & again. Same with earthquakes etc.

    "Your nature scientists are completely stumped as to why all the mass animal deaths by the millions all around the world but the Bible predicted it & makes perfect sense of it. "

    Oh now they're "my" scientists are they? Where does the bible say it would wipe out of all the species? In Revelation next to where it claims that eventually 2/3rds of all non-believers will be destroyed? You should be ASHAMED of yourself. You & your religion are a human hating, earth hating, reality hating CULT and it utterly disgusts me!!! I really wish Jesus would come to rapture you and the rest of the Abrahamic cults so the rest of us could actually begin to live in peace and be great stewards of planet earth.

    A Brief History of the Apocalypse
    http://www.abhota.info/end1.htm

    uhh, I feel dirty after talking to you. I feel like I need to go take a shower.

    "The sun, moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands."

    - Havelock Ellis, The Dance of Life, 1923
Add comment
Your Contact Details:
Comment:
[b] [i] [u] [url] [quote] [code] [img]   
:angry::0:confused::cheer:B):evil::silly::dry::lol::kiss::D:pinch:
:(:shock::X:side::):P:unsure::woohoo::huh::whistle:;):s
:!::?::idea::arrow:
Security
Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.
 
Author of this article: Acharya S
Banner
Join Our Mailing List
Your Name:
Your Email Address:
Subscribe Unsubscribe

Search across all of Acharya's websites

Christ in Egypt

What people are saying about Acharya S/D.M. Murdock

"Your scholarship is relentless! ...the research conducted by D.M. Murdock concerning the myth of Jesus Christ is certainly both valuable and worthy of consideration." —Dr. Kenneth L. Feder, Professor of Archaeology, Central Connecticut State University, Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience In Archaeology

"I find myself in full agreement with Acharya S/D.M. Murdock... I find it undeniable that...many, many of the epic heroes and ancient patriarchs and matriarchs of the Old Testament were personified stars, planets, and constellations..." —Dr. Robert M. Price, The Pre-Nicene New Testament

"I can recommend your work whole-heartedly!" —Dr. Robert Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus and The New Testament Code, RobertEisenman.com

"Well-referenced, with numerous quotations from renowned Egyptologists and classical scholars, Acharya's penetrating research clearly lays out the very ancient pre-Christian basis of modern Christianity. Those who espouse Christianity beware! After digesting the evidence, you will never again view your religion in the same light." —Dr. Robert M. Schoch, Professor of Natural Science College of General Studies at Boston University; Author, Pyramid Quest, Voyages of the Pyramid Builders and Voices of the Rocks

"Acharya S deserves to be recognized as a leading researcher and an expert in the field of comparative mythology, on a par with James Frazer or Robert Graves—indeed, superior to those forerunners in the frankness of her conclusions and the volume of her evidence." —Barbara Walker, The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets and Man Made God

"I've known people with triple Ph.D's who haven't come close to the scholarship in Who Was Jesus?" —Pastor David Bruce, M.Div, North Park Seminary, Chicago, HollywoodJesus.com

"Thirty years ago, when in divinity school, I might have had second thoughts about becoming an Episcopal priest if a book like D. M. Murdock's Who Was Jesus? had been available to me." —Bob Semes, Retired university professor of History and Religion, Founder and Executive Director of The Jefferson Center

"In addition to presenting in Suns of God the troubling history of religious wars in an easily followed narrative, Acharya goes a step further, explaining as only she can how a once-simplistic idea has been carried into our modern world with terrible and nearly unimaginable results." —Rev. Dr. W. Sumner Davis, Fellow, Royal Astronomical Society; Member, American Geophysical Union; Affiliate, New York Academy of Science

"Ms. Murdock is one of only a tiny number of scholars with the richly diverse academic background (and the necessary courage) to adequately address the question of whether Jesus Christ truly existed as a walking-talking figure in first-century Palestine." —David Mills, Atheist Universe

"Thank you, Acharya, for the important work you are doing. Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ just might be the best short introduction to Biblical scholarship yet." —David Bergland, 1984 Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate, Libertarianism In One Lesson

"...I have found her scholarship, research, knowledge of the original languages, and creative linkages to be breathtaking and highly stimulating." —Rev. Dr. Jon Burnham, Pastor, Presbyterian Church, Houston, TX

"Acharya S has done a superb job in bringing together the rich panoply of ancient world mythology and culture, and presenting it in a comprehensive and compelling fashion." —Earl Doherty, The Jesus Puzzle

"Acharya S is a shining light of truth in a sea of deceit." —Rob McConnell, X Zone Radio/TV, Ontario, Canada

"The Christ Conspiracy—very, very scholarly and wholly researched—is a book for today..." Rev. B. Strauss, ex-Catholic Priest, Chicago, IL

"Amidst the global chaos of George Bush's War on Terror, largely founded on religious intolerance and simplistic notions of good and evil, Acharya S is the voice of reason." —Joan D'Arc, Paranoia

"D.M. Murdock could well be the most brilliant, insightful and rigorous theologian writing today." —Robert Tulip

"Acharya S is the ranking religious philosopher of our era." —John K.

"Acharya S/Murdock deserves an award for her hard work and courage. She is the Galileo of our day!" —Charles Johnson

"Acharya S knows more about the ancient Mysteries than any living scholar." —Christopher Knowles

"Acharya S is an amazing researcher with a tremendous amount of energy and appetite for constant discovery of newer horizons. " —Dr. O.P. Sudrania

Gospel According to Acharya S

FTN Books

Login Form


Share this Page

| More

We rely on word of mouth to help us grow!

Acharya's Web 2.0

acharya s facebook account
acharya's twitter account
acharya's myspace account

Donate to the Cause!

donations for acharya s

Kindle Ebooks

Jesus as the Sun throughout history

The ZEITGEIST Companion Guide image

man made god by barbara g. walker

2010 Astrotheology calendar

freethought nation animated banner