Are You Ready for ‘Chicagohenge’? Fall Equinox Creates Amazing Sunrise, Sunset Effect

Patty Wetli | September 22, 2023 5:37 pm

(Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

It’s the moment Chicago photographers — professionals and anyone with a phone — look forward to twice a year.

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During the fall and spring equinoxes, the sun rises due east and sets due west, creating an effect dubbed Chicagohenge (in reference to Stonehenge), when the sunset is strikingly framed by the city’s skyscrapers.

The fall equinox, when the sun is directly over the equator, occurs at 1:50 a.m. Saturday.

Because Chicago is laid out in a grid, the city’s east-west streets perfectly frame the equinox sunrise and sunset.

According to the Adler Planetarium, the best time to view Chicagohenge is during sunrise or sunset. Any east-west street will do, but avenues lined with tall buildings will create more dramatic results.

Don’t worry if you miss it. There’s always spring.

It is time.

The #FallEquinox is here which means #Chicagohenge is back! Between 9/20–9/23, look to the skies during sunrise and sunset to see the sun perfectly in line with the east-west facing streets in Chicago! pic.twitter.com/sFUIpgbqiM

— AdlerPlanet (@AdlerPlanet) September 19, 2023

Happy Spring, everyone! Thanks to Chicago's east/west street grid, we get treated to spectacular astronomical display - #Chicagohenge - around each equinox. When the sun rises and sets on clear days, it fills the city's canyons with brilliant light.

Nick Ulivieri Photography pic.twitter.com/Dn68jcICXH

— @overseaseyes (@overseaseyes1) March 21, 2023