Northern Lights May Appear In Boston

The New England sky could see a rare phenomenon early Wednesday morning.

NASA scientists say the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, could make a rare appearance in the Boston area due to a strong solar flare that happened Sunday.

Erik Ponser, a NASA physicist, says a Northern Lights sighting as far south as Boston would take unusually strong solar activity.

“Generally the stronger the direction is, the more south the aurora oval is,” Ponser said. “And one needs to push it south to see it at the latitudes where Boston is.”

Scientists are not certain that this solar flare will be strong enough for the lights to reach Boston — but if it does, it would probably be between midnight and 1 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The Northern Lights haven’t appeared in Boston area since 2005.