'Melbourne Henge' to light up Melbourne skyline, fingers crossed

Astrophysicist Dr Alan Duffy says the setting sun should line up with the CBD grid, providing the setting for a “spectacular celestial alignment”.

If Melbourne’s weather behaves, Dr Duffy said the sunset could also rival anincreasingly increasingly popular phenomenon in New York City known as “Manhattan Henge” – where the sun sets at the perfect angle to light up the city’s towers.

Dr Duffy said at 7.54pm on Wednesday, the sun should be visible precisely along the streets of Melbourne’s Hoddle grid. The event occurs twice a year at sunset and sunrise, and this is the last chance for 2015.

“I can imagine it being this beautiful sight to see the sun setting in this canyon of skyscrapers, this modern-day Stonehenge.”

He said the alignment was a fairly rare occurrence throughout the world, as older cities such as London were generally not laid out in grid-like formations. Of course Stonehenge – a monument rather than a CBD grid – is a more ancient exception.

“We don’t know why the ancient druids of Britain created Stonehenge where sunlight streamed between gaps in thousands of tons of rock at key times of the year,” Dr Duffy said.

“We do know that ‘Melbhenge’ had more to do with efficient town planning by Robert Hoddle in 1837, but the effect is the same.”

Dr Duffy plans to watch the phenomenon – if the clouds allow it – from the corner of Bourke and Williams streets.

He is encouraging Melburnians to take photographs from around the city just before 8pm, to try and form a photographic catalogue which will help pinpoint the best spot to watch the rare sunset in future.

“If we don’t get it tonight, because of the weather for example, we’ll have another crack in February.”

Those interested should use the hashtag #Melbhenge.