'California Henge' draws large crowd to weekend San Francisco sunrise
SAN FRANCISCO -- Dozens of people woke up very early over the weekend to witness a San Francisco spectacle that only happens for a brief moment twice a year.
On April 8th, the sun rises in perfect alignment with San Francisco's off-kilter city street grid. As a result, the sun appears to align as if by design directly down California Street and other east-west tending streets north of Market St.
The climax is the perfect photo opportunity of the sun parked directly over the Bay Bridge and in perfect alignment down California St.
You have to time this view just right because of a quirk in the alignment of SF city streets. Instead of running exactly east-west, which would be considered an angle of 90 degrees due East, they are instead aligned at an angle of 80 degrees, just off the perfect 90°.
As such, you have to wait several weeks after the equinox for everything to line up just right.
If you missed the phenomena over the weekend, you'll get another chance on September 4th.
