Lights on a nice spring day in the Northern Hemisphere: Sunset thrills New Yorkers

 

 

 

 

Stunning 'Manhattanhenge' sunset thrills New Yorkers           Phenomenon occurs twice a year Named by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson for a moment when the suns setting aligns 'precisely with the Manhattan street grid' Similar phenomenon occurs twice over the winter with the sun rising in the morning New Yorkers crowded the city's already busy streets Friday evening to catch of glimpse of the year's second - and final - Manhattanhenge. The term, coined by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, describes a phenomenon that occurs when 'when the setting sun aligns precisely with the Manhattan street grid, creating a radiant glow of light across Manhattan's brick and steel canyons, simultaneously illuminating both the north and south sides of every cross street of the borough's grid, Looking down the street this evening, people could see a full sun hovering just above the horizon. On Saturday, the event will show a half-sun at the horizon. The year's previous Manhattanhenge happened in May, but was obscured by cloudy skies. But as USA Today notes, this time there was be a breathtaking view. 'Both nights should be good viewing wise,' AccuWeather Meteorologist Alyson Hoegg said. 'Both nights will be clear to partly cloudy.' Well worn streets such as 23rd and 42nd draw a high number of Manhattanhenge viewers. A similar phenomenon also occurs twice in the winter, but in the morning with the sun rising through the grid. +12 A morning Manhattanhenge also occurs twice over the winter months +12 This is the second and last of two Manhattanhenge sunsets of the year +12 People crowd onto 42nd Street as they take photos of the 'Manhattanhenge' +12 Coined by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the phenomenon occurs twice a year, when the setting sun aligns itself with the east-west grid of streets in Manhattan +12 Traffic slows as tourists and pedestrians watch the Manhattanhenge phenomenon on 42nd Street +12 People crowd a bridge that goes over 42nd St as they take photos of the Manhattanhenge +12 This was the second (and final) pair of Manhattanhenge sunsets for the year +12 This weekend's viewing conditions will be much better than the cloudy skies for the last Manhattanhenge +12 Traffic slows as tourists and pedestrians watch the Manhattanhenge +12 Crowds usually gather around 23rd and 42nd to get a good view +12 People crowd a bridge that goes over 42nd St as they take photos +12 A woman takes pictures at sunset next to the the Flatiron Building, during the annual occurrence "Manhattanhenge" Jökulsarlon beach which is one of the best known places for photographers in the whole of Europe and on some days there are hundreds of photographers standing between the icebergs and trying to take a picture without anyone in the picture.  ‘Despite this massive overcrowding this place is just magic.’ +12 Vibrant colours: The green Northern Lights illuminates the sky over Tromsø in Norway +12 Dedication: Photographer Stefan Forster spent up to eight hours a night waiting to snap the Northern Lights, pictured here in Norway +12 Stunning images show the jaw-dropping Northern Lights in all their glory- illuminating the nights sky with stunning green colours   +12 +12 Incredible images: Stefan Forster, pictured left, captured these stunning images of the Northern Lights over Iceland +12 These stunning images show the jaw-dropping Northern Lights in all their glory - illuminating the night's sky with stunning green colours +12 Beautiful display: The photographer waited for up to eight hours a night to take these incredible images in Iceland +12 Firework display: This incredible photo was taken in Norway, showing the stunning Northern Lights   Natural phenomena: The photographer spent eight hours a night waiting to capture these stunning images of the jaw-dropping Northern Lights +12 Breathtaking display: The photographer captured the Northern Lights while he was in Iceland, Greenland and Norway

Temperatures in the northern hemisphere are finally warming, flowers are blooming, and the sunshine beckons us outside once again. On a nice spring day like today, I thought I'd share some recent colorful images of the season from Germany, Japan, Scotland, the United States, and more Thousands of Bluebells bloom, carpeting a forest near Halle, south of Brussels, Belgium, on April 15, 2014.(AP Photo/Yves Logghe) 2 A young goat jumps through a meadow during warm and sunny weather at Gut Aiderbichl in Henndorf in the Austrian province of Salzburg, on April 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson) # 3 Snow covered crocus blossoms emerge from the snow in Hochfilzen, Austria, on March 23, 2014.(AP Photo/ Kerstin Joensson) # 4 Emily Herren takes a picture with her phone as she visits the Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California, on April 2, 2014.(AP Photo/Gregory Bull) # 5 Chris Hoag, left, and Parrish Brown, in a hammock they put up along the pond in Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 1, 2014. (AP Photo/David Goldman) # 6 A worker walks through a field of tulips in Schwaneberg, Germany, on April 15, 2014. (AP Photo/dpa, Jens Wolf) # 7 Aerial view of flower fields near Keukenhof park, also known as the Garden of Europe, in Lisse, Netherlands, on April 9, 2014. Keukenhof, employing some 30 gardeners, is considered to be the world's largest flower garden displaying millions of flowers every year. (Reuters/Yves Herman) # 8 Flowers bloom in the spring sunshine near St Paul's Cathedral in London on April 15, 2014.(Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images) # 9 Twelve-year-old certified yoga instructor Jaysea DeVoe takes her paddle board out on the ocean as the sun sets in Encinitas, California, on March 19, 2014. (Reuters/Mike Blake) # 10 A brown bear cub peeks out from underneath its mother Ursina as it plays in their enclosure at Juraparc animal park near Vallorbe, Switzerland, on April 7, 2014. (Reuters/Denis Balibouse) # 11 Dark rain clouds move over a rapeseed field near Alt Zeschdorf, Germany, on April 14, 2014.(AP Photo/dpa, Patrick Pleul) # 12 Joe Ricker, front, of Dover, New Hampshire, and Evan Adams of South Berwick, Maine, head out to the open waters on Lake Winnipesaukee to fish for Salmon in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, on the opening day of the Salmon season, April 1, 2014.(AP Photo/Jim Cole) # 13 Butterflies emerge from their chrysalises in the Natural History Museum's "Sensational Butterflies" outdoor butterfly house in London, on March 31, 2014. (Oli Scarff/Getty Images) # 14 Butterflies sit on the face of Isla, age 6, in the Natural History Museum's outdoor butterfly house in London, on March 31, 2014. (Oli Scarff/Getty Images) # 15 Attendees of the 2014 Coachella Music Festival walk through the Empire Polo Field on the third day of the festival in Indio, California, on April 13, 2014. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) # 16 The sun begins to rise behind the Jefferson Memorial as cherry blossoms begin to bloom at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., on April 10, 2014. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) # 17 Free Syrian Army fighters walk through a field of flowers during a reconnaissance mission on the Heesh front, for what they said was an operation to take over a checkpoint belonging to the regime's forces, in the countryside of Idlib, on April 10, 2014. (Reuters/Khalil Ashawi) # 18 A close shot of a flower in Sieversdorf, Germany, on April 2, 2014. (Patrick Pleul/AFP/Getty Images) # 19 Carol McKenna tends to newly born Blackface sheep on Gass Farm in Kirkcowan, Scotland, on April 1, 2014. McKenna farms beef and sheep on Gass Farm, which has been in her family for 82 years. She is one of the growing numbers of women in the UK who are choosing a career in farming, recent figures showed there are currently around 23,000 female farmers in the UK. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) # 20 A child plays in a rapeseed field in Hamarikyu Gardens in Tokyo, on March 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) # 21 Visitors ride a boat in the Chidorigafuchi moat, as they enjoy fully bloomed cherry blossoms, during spring in Tokyo.(Reuters/Issei Kato) # 22 With the Jefferson Memorial in the background, Steven Paska, 26, of Arlington, Virginia, kneels as he asks Jessica Deegan, 27, his girlfriend of two years, to marry him, near cherry blossom trees in peak bloom in Washington, D.C., on April 10, 2014. Deegan said yes to the surprise proposal. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) # 23 A girl swings in front of a blossoming cherry tree in Berlin's Mauerpark, on April 13, 2014. (Reuters/Steffi Loos) # 24 A bee collects pollen in a mustard field in front of the cooling towers of the Temelin nuclear power plant near the South Bohemian city of Tyn nad Vltavou, Czech Republic, on April 12, 2014. (Reuters/David W Cerny) # 25 A flower buds in New York City's Bryant Park on March 21, 2014. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images) # 26 North Korean women in colorful traditional dresses are surrounded by flower blossoms known as "Kimilsungia" as they wait to guide guests through a flower exhibition in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 14, 2014. The flowers, named after Kim Il Sung, are on display to celebrate the late leader's official birth date of April 15, 1912. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) # 27 Rowers on the Seine in Neuilly, near Paris, on April 10, 2014. (Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images) # 28 A man looks at cherry blossoms in full bloom in Tokyo on March 31, 2014. (Reuters/Toru Hanai)