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How the dates and times on Henge Days are made, what they leave out, and the terms for using them.

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Articles · October 17, 2026

Map of Main Street in Old Town Fairfax in Along a street, north up, with the 780 m from Chain Bridge Road to the Fairfax Museum drawn as a line and the buildings along it outlined. — Main Street, Old Town Fairfax, in Along a street on October 17, 2026. The street runs at 106 degrees, the bearing of the sun about half an hour after sunrise this weekend, so the whole street is lit end to end. North is up.

George Mason University Family Weekend, October 17 and 18, 2026: buildings to photograph on campus and in Old Town Fairfax

George Mason University Family Weekend, October 17 and 18, 2026: the walls on the Fairfax campus and in Old Town Fairfax that line up with the sunrise or sunset, when to be there between the weekend's events, and where to stand for the family picture.

For October 17 to 18, 2026.

Family Weekend at George Mason University is October 16 to 18, 2026. This is a guide to the walls on the Fairfax campus and in Old Town Fairfax that the sunrise or sunset lands on square this Saturday and Sunday: the buildings a visiting family walks past anyway, fitted around the weekend's schedule, with the spots and times for the family picture. Post yours with #HengeDays.

Sunrise is at 7:21 AM and sunset at 6:27 PM on Saturday, a minute later and a minute earlier on Sunday. Six walls and one street are in the guide, in the order a day runs.

The weekend's schedule and the light

The Saturday events, from the Mason Families page as a search reached it on October 17 (it did not reach the Sunday rows, so Sunday has only the light), and the walls that fit around them:

8 AM to noon: Family Weekend check-in at The HUB, for families who did not check in on Friday. Sunrise is at 7:21 AM, so the three sunrise walls on the campus (entries 1, 2 and 3) come before it, and the Old Town sunrise (the Main Street section and entry 6) fits a family staying in a hotel there.
Noon to 4 PM: Mason 2 Main St. in Old Town Fairfax, with maps from the Old Town Fairfax Business Association booth at the Shoppes at Main Street. The sun is high then; the Old Town section says what that light does to the street.
2 PM to 4 PM: Mason Families Give Back, the Day of Service, with registration on Mason360.
7 PM: men's soccer against George Washington at George Mason Stadium, with fireworks after the game. Sunset is at 6:27 PM, so the two sunset walls (entries 4 and 5) come before the walk to the stadium.
Sunday: registration for the weekend runs to noon. The sunrise walls repeat on Sunday, two minutes later than Saturday for the golden ones and two minutes earlier for the henge one, and the sunset walls repeat too.

Check the Mason Families page for changes and for Sunday. Nothing in this guide is a Family Weekend event, and every stand point is a lawn, a walk, a plaza or a sidewalk.

Part 1: the Mason Fairfax campus

Five walls, in the order a day runs: three for the morning and two for the evening. Two are halls in Presidents Park, the first-year housing area. The other three are on the walk between the Johnson Center, Mason Pond and the Center for the Arts.

1 Lincoln Hall

George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia

Wall: east-southeast, facing 102°
Sun: The rising sun lines up with this wall on Oct 17 to 18. Best: Sunday, October 18 at 7:23 AM, 0.1° above the horizon.
Leaves: Early color. A forecast updated October 15 puts most of Virginia at peak between October 22 and November 3, with the Blue Ridge first and the lowlands last (More Than Just Parks). Fairfax is lowland: expect green with the first yellows and reds.
Where to stand: On the walk east-southeast of the hall, between it and the trees, with the sun behind you. On Saturday the sun lines up with the wall at 7:25 AM, 0.6 degrees up, and on Sunday at 7:23 AM, on the horizon: the only sunrise henge days on the campus this weekend. No building in the outlines stands in the way. The woods east of the hall are not in the check and stand between it and a sun that low, so expect the light some minutes later, from a little higher and a little to the left, once the sun clears the treetops. Check-in at The HUB opens at 8 AM, a five-minute walk west.
Clear view: Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (0.1° up) in its direction.

One of the residence halls of Presidents Park, the first-year housing area on the east side of the campus. The area opened in 1989 with twelve halls named for presidents and one community building, Eisenhower Hall, and houses about 1,200 students (Wikipedia). Lincoln Hall stands at the edge of the area, and the wall that lines up is its east end, 30 m long, facing the woods along the edge of the campus.

Map of Lincoln Hall in Henge Days, with the east-southeast wall highlighted and every wall labeled with its bearing — The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 102°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.

Fri, Oct 16 to Sun, Oct 18, 20263 mornings · best Sun, Oct 18

7:23 AM Henge sunrise, sun on the horizon ESE 102° wall

Its row in the Henge days list, with the time of the head-on moment on the best day. Save keeps that day in your planner, which can send it to your calendar app. Saving asks you to sign in with an email link; there is no password.

A year of head-on days for each wall of Lincoln Hall — The year for every wall of the building. Each row is a wall; the colored runs are its henge, golden and low-sun days.

Open this wall in Henge Days

2 Nguyen Engineering Building

George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia

Wall: east-southeast, facing 105°
Sun: The low morning sun lines up with this wall on Oct 17 to 18. Best: Sunday, October 18 at 7:40 AM, 3.0° above the horizon.
Leaves: Early color. A forecast updated October 15 puts most of Virginia at peak between October 22 and November 3, with the Blue Ridge first and the lowlands last (More Than Just Parks). Fairfax is lowland: expect green with the first yellows and reds.
Where to stand: On the walk east-southeast of the building, between it and the loop drive on the Presidents Park side, off the road, with the sun behind you. Golden light on Saturday at 7:42 AM, 3.6 degrees up, on Sunday at 7:40 AM, 3 degrees up, and for families who stay, Monday at 7:38 AM, 2.5 degrees up. A low building toward the sun rises 0.8 degrees in the outlines, under the sun on all three mornings; its height is an estimate. The west wall, 32 m long and facing 253 degrees, gets the evening light at 5:53 PM on Saturday and 5:54 PM on Sunday, 5 to 6 degrees up; it is in the list at the end.
Clear view: Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (3.0° up) in its direction.

The Long and Kimmy Nguyen Engineering Building opened on October 2, 2009, and is the administrative home of the College of Engineering and Computing, with about 160,000 square feet of classrooms and research space (Mason history, Edgemoor). It stands between the Johnson Center and Presidents Park, so a family walking from the halls to the center passes its east wall, 53 m long.

Map of Nguyen Engineering Building in Henge Days, with the east-southeast wall highlighted and every wall labeled with its bearing — The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 105°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.

Tue, Oct 13 to Sat, Oct 24, 202612 mornings · best Sat, Oct 24

7:29 AM Golden sunrise, sun 0° up ESE 105° wall

Its row in the Henge days list, with the time of the head-on moment on the best day. Save keeps that day in your planner, which can send it to your calendar app. Saving asks you to sign in with an email link; there is no password.

A year of head-on days for each wall of Nguyen Engineering Building — The year for every wall of the building. Each row is a wall; the colored runs are its henge, golden and low-sun days.

Open this wall in Henge Days

3 Recreation and Athletic Complex

George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia

Wall: east-southeast, facing 105°
Sun: The low morning sun lines up with this wall on Oct 17 to 18. Best: Sunday, October 18 at 7:39 AM, 2.8° above the horizon.
Leaves: Early color. The same October 15 forecast puts Northern Virginia at peak in the last days of October and the first of November (More Than Just Parks). The trees around Mason Pond are in the picture from this stand point.
Where to stand: On the walk south-east of the RAC, between it and Mason Pond Drive and off the road, east-southeast of that wall with the sun behind you. Golden light on Saturday at 7:41 AM, 3.3 degrees up, on Sunday at 7:39 AM, 2.8 degrees up, and on Monday at 7:37 AM, 2.3 degrees up. The Concert Hall rises 1.8 degrees toward the sun in the outlines, under the sun on each morning; its height is an estimate.
Clear view: Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (2.8° up) in its direction.

The Recreation and Athletic Complex, the RAC, is the campus recreation center on the west side of Mason Pond, next to the Aquatic and Fitness Center. The wall that lines up is short, 16 m, on the south-east side of the building toward the Concert Hall. It is the one wall by the Center for the Arts that the sunrise reaches square on this weekend.

Map of Recreation and Athletic Complex in Henge Days, with the east-southeast wall highlighted and every wall labeled with its bearing — The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 105°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.

Tue, Oct 13 to Fri, Oct 23, 202611 mornings · best Fri, Oct 23

7:29 AM Golden sunrise, sun 0° up ESE 105° wall

Its row in the Henge days list, with the time of the head-on moment on the best day. Save keeps that day in your planner, which can send it to your calendar app. Saving asks you to sign in with an email link; there is no password.

A year of head-on days for each wall of Recreation and Athletic Complex — The year for every wall of the building. Each row is a wall; the colored runs are its henge, golden and low-sun days.

Open this wall in Henge Days

4 Kennedy Hall

George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia

Wall: west-southwest, facing 254°
Sun: The low evening sun lines up with this wall on Oct 17 to 18. Best: Sunday, October 18 at 6:01 PM, 4.1° above the horizon.
Leaves: Early color. A forecast updated October 15 puts most of Virginia at peak between October 22 and November 3, with the Blue Ridge first and the lowlands last (More Than Just Parks). Fairfax is lowland: expect green with the first yellows and reds.
Where to stand: On the walk or the grass west-southwest of the hall, between it and Eisenhower Hall, with the sun behind you. Golden light on Saturday at 5:59 PM, 4.7 degrees up, and on Sunday at 6:01 PM, 4.1 degrees up. Eisenhower Hall rises 3.6 degrees toward the sun in the outlines, so it takes the light a few minutes after those times; its height is an estimate. On Monday the sun is behind Eisenhower Hall at the moment it lines up. The soccer game starts at 7 PM, after sunset.
Clear view: Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (4.1° up) in its direction.

A Presidents Park residence hall in the row nearest the Johnson Center. Its west wall, 43 m long, faces Eisenhower Hall, the area's community building, across the walk between them, and the evening light reaches it over Eisenhower Hall's roof.

Map of Kennedy Hall in Henge Days, with the west-southwest wall highlighted and every wall labeled with its bearing — The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 254°, toward the sunset on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.

Thu, Oct 15 to Mon, Oct 26, 202612 evenings · best Mon, Oct 26

6:13 PM Golden sunset, sun 0° up WSW 254° wall

Its row in the Henge days list, with the time of the head-on moment on the best day. Save keeps that day in your planner, which can send it to your calendar app. Saving asks you to sign in with an email link; there is no password.

A year of head-on days for each wall of Kennedy Hall — The year for every wall of the building. Each row is a wall; the colored runs are its henge, golden and low-sun days.

Open this wall in Henge Days

5 de Laski Performing Arts Building

George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia

Wall: west-southwest, facing 257°
Sun: The setting sun lines up with this wall on Oct 17 to 18. Best: Sunday, October 18 at 6:21 PM, 0.6° above the horizon.
Leaves: Early color. The same October 15 forecast puts Northern Virginia at peak in the last days of October and the first of November (More Than Just Parks). The trees around Mason Pond are in the picture from this stand point.
Where to stand: This is the one wall on the campus where the setting sun reaches the horizon in line with it this weekend, and it is short: a 9 m jog in the north side of the building. Stand on the walk along that north side, west-southwest of the jog, with the sun behind you; Mason Pond is a short walk west. Saturday at 6:19 PM, 1.1 degrees up, Sunday at 6:21 PM, 0.6 degrees up, and Monday at 6:22 PM, with the sun on the horizon. Nothing in the outlines stands in the way; the trees west of the building are not in the check and can take the last minutes.
Clear view: Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (0.6° up) in its direction.

Completed in January 1988 as the first part of a humanities complex beside Mason Pond, with music and dance studios, a recital hall and the Black Box theater, and dedicated as the Donald and Nancy de Laski Performing Arts Building on September 21, 2010 (Mason history, the dedication). It stands between the Center for the Arts and the pond.

Map of de Laski Performing Arts Building in Henge Days, with the west-southwest wall highlighted and every wall labeled with its bearing — The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 257°, toward the sunset on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.

Sat, Oct 17 to Mon, Oct 19, 20263 evenings · best Mon, Oct 19

6:22 PM Henge sunset, sun on the horizon WSW 257° wall

Its row in the Henge days list, with the time of the head-on moment on the best day. Save keeps that day in your planner, which can send it to your calendar app. Saving asks you to sign in with an email link; there is no password.

A year of head-on days for each wall of de Laski Performing Arts Building — The year for every wall of the building. Each row is a wall; the colored runs are its henge, golden and low-sun days.

Open this wall in Henge Days

Part 2: Old Town Fairfax

Main Street through Old Town runs at 106 degrees for 780 m, from Chain Bridge Road past the courthouse, Old Town Square and the Ratcliffe-Allison-Pozer House to the Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center. This weekend the sun rises at 102 degrees and moves right as it climbs. On Saturday at 7:50 AM it stands straight over the far end of the street, 4.7 degrees up; on Sunday at 7:48 AM, 4.2 degrees up; on Monday at 7:46 AM, 3.6 degrees up. For ten minutes either side of that, the street is lit end to end along its length and every east-facing wall on it faces the sun.

Stand on the north sidewalk at the west end of the street, by the courthouse at Chain Bridge Road, and look east down Main Street for the picture of the street with the sun at the end of it. For the family picture, turn around: put the family on the same sidewalk facing the sun, stand east of them with the sun behind you, and the courthouse is behind them at the end of the block. The buildings at the far end are two and three stories, about 60 m below the sun at that distance, and the street trees are not in the check.

During Mason 2 Main St. the sun is high. The fronts on the north side of Main Street face 195 degrees and get the high sun square on at about 1:40 PM, 40 degrees up, which is flat light with short shadows and good for pictures of the shops. The sunset is no use here: it sets at 258 degrees, 27 degrees off the street's line, and no Old Town wall with a clear view faces it this weekend.

The map and the list for Main Street, on October 17 or any day you choose:

Open Main Street in Along a street

6 Woody's Ice Cream

Old Town Fairfax, Virginia

Wall: east-southeast, facing 106°
Sun: The low morning sun lines up with this wall on Oct 17 to 18. Best: Sunday, October 18 at 7:47 AM, 4.3° above the horizon.
Leaves: Early color. A forecast updated October 15 puts the lowlands of Virginia at peak between October 22 and November 3 (More Than Just Parks). The street trees of Old Town are mostly green on these days.
Where to stand: On the pavement east-southeast of the shop, by the path in from North Street, with the sun behind you. Golden light on Saturday at 7:49 AM, 4.8 degrees up, on Sunday at 7:47 AM, 4.3 degrees up, and on Monday at 7:45 AM, 3.7 degrees up. A building toward the sun rises 2.1 degrees in the outlines, under the sun on each morning; its height is an estimate.
Clear view: Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (4.3° up) in its direction.

An ice cream shop at 10435 North Street, a block north of Main Street, run by the same family for more than twenty years; Danielle Gilbert took it over from her grandfather, Woody Lashley Jr., in 2010 (Fairfax Connection). The wall that lines up is the shop's east end, 15 m long, which faces the lot behind the North Street shops. The light comes before the shop opens, so this is a morning picture and an afternoon stop, a short walk from the Mason 2 Main St. booth.

Map of Woody's Ice Cream in Henge Days, with the east-southeast wall highlighted and every wall labeled with its bearing — The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 106°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.

Thu, Oct 15 to Mon, Oct 26, 202612 mornings · best Mon, Oct 26

7:32 AM Golden sunrise, sun 0° up ESE 106° wall

Its row in the Henge days list, with the time of the head-on moment on the best day. Save keeps that day in your planner, which can send it to your calendar app. Saving asks you to sign in with an email link; there is no password.

A year of head-on days for each wall of Woody's Ice Cream — The year for every wall of the building. Each row is a wall; the colored runs are its henge, golden and low-sun days.

Open this wall in Henge Days

Old Town walls that line up but stand in shade

The landmarks of Old Town face the sunrise this weekend as well. Each has a neighbor in the way at that height, so the light reaches them later and from the side. Their west fronts line up with the sunset in April; the dates are from the same engine.

Fairfax County Historic Courthouse, 4000 Chain Bridge Road: the 1800 courthouse designed by James Wren, with wings added in 1929 and 1953 that extend it 132 m along Chain Bridge Road (Wikipedia, Fairfax County). The back wall faces 105 degrees and lines up on Saturday at 7:43 AM, 3.7 degrees up, and on Sunday at 7:41 AM, 3.2 degrees up, but a building across the parking lot rises 9.1 degrees toward the sun in the outlines (height estimated). The arcaded front faces 285 degrees and lines up with the sunset at the horizon from April 19 to 21, 2027.
Old Town Hall, 3999 University Drive: the 1900 frame hall that Joseph E. Willard built for the town (Historic Fairfax City). Its east wall faces 105 degrees and lines up on Saturday at 7:44 AM and on Sunday at 7:42 AM, 3.3 to 3.8 degrees up, with the Ratcliffe-Allison-Pozer House next door in the way. Its west wall lines up with the sunset at the horizon from April 19 to 22, 2027.
Ratcliffe-Allison-Pozer House, 10386 Main Street: the oldest house on Main Street and a city museum. Its east wall faces 104 degrees and lines up on Saturday at 7:37 AM, 2.5 degrees up, on Sunday at 7:35 AM, 2 degrees up, and on Monday at 7:33 AM, 1.5 degrees up, with the shop next door in the way (height estimated). Its west wall lines up with the sunset at the horizon from April 17 to 19, 2027.
Historic Blenheim: the brick farmhouse of about 1859 whose walls carry Civil War soldiers' graffiti stands at 51 degrees to the compass points, and no wall of the house gets a head-on sunrise or sunset at any time of year. The visitor center's southwest wall gets golden evening light from December 12 to 30.
The Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center at 10209 Main Street and the churches on Main Street are not named outlines in the map data here, so they were not checked.

More walls this weekend

These walls also have a clear path to the sun on Saturday and Sunday. Each name opens the wall in Henge Days.

Mason Fairfax campus

Building	Wall	Light	Days	Best
Nguyen Engineering Building George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia · The west wall of entry 2. EagleBank Arena rises 1.4 degrees toward the sun in the outlines, under the sun both evenings; its height is an estimate.	WSW 253°	Low evening sun	Oct 17 to 18	Oct 18, 5:54 PM
Carty House George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia · At the west edge of the campus. The RAC rises 0.7 degrees toward the sun in the outlines; its height is an estimate.	ESE 106°	Low morning sun	Oct 17 to 18	Oct 18, 7:50 AM

Old Town Fairfax

Building	Wall	Light	Days	Best
Starbucks Old Town Fairfax, Virginia · North side of Main Street, east of Old Town Square. Nothing in the outlines stands in the way.	ESE 106°	Low morning sun	Oct 17 to 18	Oct 18, 7:45 AM

When the big ones line up

The buildings a family asks about first do not face this weekend's sun. Their next days, from the same engine:

Johnson Center: the north front on Wilkins Plaza faces 332 degrees and never gets a head-on sunrise or sunset. The long west wall, 126 m facing 242 degrees, gets golden evening light from November 10 to 28 and the setting sun at the horizon from November 23 to 28.
Horizon Hall: the west wall, 76 m facing 243 degrees, gets golden evening light from November 8 to 25 and the setting sun at the horizon from November 20 to 25.
Fenwick Library: the west wall, 93 m facing 243 degrees, gets golden evening light from November 9 to 27 and the setting sun at the horizon from November 22 to 27.
EagleBank Arena: the west wall, facing 269 degrees, lines up with the sunset at the horizon from March 17 to 19, 2027, and the east wall, facing 87 degrees, with the sunrise from March 25 to 27, 2027.
Merten Hall: the west wall, facing 262 degrees, had its sunset days from October 7 to 9 and next lines up from March 3 to 5, 2027.
The George Mason statue in front of Harris Theatre is a statue, not an outline, so Henge Days has no wall for it.

Where to stand for the family picture

Three spots with the light on the faces, from the entries above. Post the picture with #HengeDays so other Mason families can find the spot.

Saturday or Sunday morning, Presidents Park: the east end of Lincoln Hall at 7:25 AM on Saturday or 7:23 AM on Sunday (entry 1). Put the family against the wall, facing the sun, and stand east-southeast of them with the sun behind you. The light is level and warm for about ten minutes, and the whole group is lit from the front with no shadows across faces.
Saturday evening, Mason Pond: the north side of the de Laski Performing Arts Building at 6:19 PM (entry 5). The sun is a degree above the horizon, so faces are lit from the front and the wall is the color of the sunset. The stadium is next.
Old Town, Saturday at 7:50 AM or Sunday at 7:48 AM: the north sidewalk of Main Street at the west end, the family facing the sun down the street and the courthouse behind them. Fifteen minutes later, Woody's Ice Cream (entry 6) on North Street.

How the list was made

Henge Days computed every named building within 300 to 500 meters of 36 points across the Fairfax campus and Old Town Fairfax, from OpenStreetMap outlines, kept the walls where the sun lines up with the wall within 6 degrees of the horizon on Saturday or Sunday, then traced the sun's path from each wall and dropped the walls where a neighboring building stands higher than the sun.

Two days is a short window, and both places have a grid that works against it. Most Mason buildings face 62, 152, 242 or 332 degrees, and this weekend the sun rises at 102 degrees and sets at 258. The Johnson Center, Horizon Hall, Fenwick Library, EagleBank Arena and Merten Hall do not line up until later in the year; the section at the end gives their dates. Old Town's buildings front Main Street, which runs at 106 degrees, so the walls that face the sunrise are the east ends of the blocks, and most of those stand in a neighbor's shade. Two walls on the campus meet the sun at the horizon, a henge day. The rest of the list uses golden days, with the sun 2 to 6 degrees up, and each entry says which it has.

Hills and trees are not part of that check, and the times assume a level horizon. Each entry names any building that rises toward the sun from in front of the wall; where its outline carries no height, the check assumed one and the entry says so. Every date and time comes from the Henge Days engine for the wall's own bearing.

How to read each entry

Each entry shows the building as Henge Days shows it. The map marks the building's outline from OpenStreetMap, gives every wall its compass bearing, and highlights the wall that lines up with the sun. Below it are the wall's row from the building's Henge days list, with a Save button that keeps the best day in your planner, and a year of head-on days for every wall. The Clear view line is the result of the check for other buildings.

Any building has a page like the ones above, your student's hall included. Whatever you shoot, post it with #HengeDays:

Look up a building Open your planner

Sources

Features

What Henge Days does, part by part, with a live example for each. Everything runs from a building's real outline and the sun's computed position.

Henge days for any building

Type an address or a landmark. Henge Days finds the building's outline in OpenStreetMap, gives every wall a compass bearing, and works out when the sun's bearing matches it. The Henge days tab lists every window for the next 12 or 24 months in date order: henge days with the sun on the horizon, golden light under 6°, low sun under 15°. Filters pick the tiers and sunrise or sunset. Each row has the best day, the time, a calendar event and a Save button.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond · Flatiron Building, New York

Today

The Today tab shows the chosen day for the selected wall: a timeline of when the sun strikes it and how squarely, the head-on minute, and the week ahead. The day can be any day you choose. A cloud forecast from Open-Meteo sits beside each day within 10 days.

The museum today

Along a street

Two ends of one street, the street's name or route number, and a day. Henge Days stitches the street's OpenStreetMap ways into one path, keeps the walls within 60 m that face the road, and lists the ones the sun reaches that day in the order you pass them. Each stop has the distance from the first end, the side of the road, the time the sun is square to the wall or at its best angle, the tier, and the wall. The map draws the street and marks each lit wall. A plan covers up to 5 km of one street.

US 17 through Tappahannock, December 12 · Main Street, Mathews, October 24 · Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Richmond, November 17

Planner

Sign in with an email link to save buildings and days. The planner keeps an agenda of your saved days in date order, with a countdown, the cloud forecast, and a note for each. The shot card for a day gives a stand point 1.5 wall lengths back from the wall, links to open it in Apple Maps or Google Maps, an arrive-by time, and a Shot or Missed mark afterwards. The agenda also lists days coming up at your saved buildings that you have not saved yet.

Open the planner

Calendar feed and calendar files

Any row downloads a calendar event with the stand point in its location. The planner also offers a private calendar feed: subscribe once in Apple Calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook and every saved day appears and stays current. The feed link can be rotated at any time.

Henge pages

A set of pages, one per building or street, with every head-on date and time for the year ahead written out on the page, computed when the site is built. They are for reading, for search engines and for AI assistants, and each has a Markdown form and a JSON file. The buildings and streets on the site's examples are there to start.

Henge pages

The Share button copies a link to the building, the selected wall and the map view. Pasted into a message or a post, the link shows the building's name and its next henge day, or the wall and date of the row you selected.

A link to one row at the museum

Open data and accuracy

Building outlines come from OpenStreetMap. Addresses are looked up with Nominatim, Photon and the US Census Bureau geocoder. Sun positions come from the NOAA solar position algorithm, computed in your browser for every day in the range. Cloud forecasts come from Open-Meteo. None of the dates are checked on the ground: hills, trees, other buildings and weather are not included, so treat each one as a plan to confirm before you travel. Terms and accuracy has the detail.

The day the sun hits that wall head-on.

Light you can put in the calendar

Find a wall's days

Drive a street for the light

Plan the shot

Flatiron Building

Live right now

Three streets, live

Church Lane, Tappahannock, VA

Main Street, Mathews, VA

North Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Richmond, VA

What is a henge day?

How it works

Privacy

What is recorded

If you sign in

What is not recorded

How long it is kept

Questions

Terms and accuracy

What the dates are

What is not included

No warranty

Your responsibility

Liability

Changes to the service

Map and address data

Acceptable use

Questions

Admin Dashboard

Planner

Release notes

George Mason University Family Weekend, October 17 and 18, 2026: buildings to photograph on campus and in Old Town Fairfax

The weekend's schedule and the light

Part 1: the Mason Fairfax campus

1 Lincoln Hall

2 Nguyen Engineering Building

3 Recreation and Athletic Complex

4 Kennedy Hall

5 de Laski Performing Arts Building

Part 2: Old Town Fairfax

6 Woody's Ice Cream

Old Town walls that line up but stand in shade

More walls this weekend

Mason Fairfax campus

Old Town Fairfax

When the big ones line up

Where to stand for the family picture

How the list was made

How to read each entry

Sources

Features

Henge days for any building

Today

Along a street

Planner

Calendar feed and calendar files

Henge pages

Share links

Open data and accuracy