May 29th, yesterday, was one of the two days of the year when our friendly neighborhood star, the sun, sets perfectly in-line with the Manhattan grid. Bi-annually, photographers in the big apple take advantage of this unique moment in our solar system. Click through the image tabs above to see some shots of New York in a new, er, light.

Manhattanhenge, as it was termed by Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, is a result of Manhattan’s grid not being aligned with the geographic north-south or east-west lines. Instead, according to Dr. deGrasse, it’s angled 30 degrees east of geographic north. This angle causes Manhattanhenge to occur 22 days before the summer solstice, and again 21 days after (that’s July 12th this year). The neologism is derived from Wiltshire England’s Stonehenge, where the sun aligns with the stones on the solstices with a similarly dramatic effect.

The Patti Cadby Birch Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art showcases the spread of Arab influence to the west through the rich material culture of Al-Andalus, highlighting the arts of the tenth-century caliphate of Cordoba and the fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Nasrid emirate of Granada. The reciprocal creative exchanges between southern Islamic courts and northern Christian- and Judeo-Spanish areas are shown. Highlights on display include important loans from the Hispanic Society of America.