Newtonhenge: Its Big Annual Event is this Week

In Newton’s Weeks Field, there’s a partially buried row of stones reminiscent of Stonehenge, which some have dubbed Newtonhenge. Between the two taller stones at the southern end of the row is a narrow slit. So when might the sun shine through it? The slit between those stones is oriented about 251° from north, and the sun sets behind a treetop just west of the stones at about 24° above horizontal. NOAA offers a solar position calculator that shows the azimuth and elevation of the sun for any suitable combination of latitude, longitude, date, and time. It tells us that, weather permitting, the sun will shine over that treetop and through the slit of Newtonhenge this week, September 11-17, at times ranging from 4:37PM to 4:43PM (each day: one minute later and half a degree lower).  Each day, the sun might shine through for about 10 minutes either side of those times. September 14 and 15 are the days when the sun should be just above treetop for the center of its time shining through. Anyway, that’s my prediction, to be tested this week