Where to Travel to See the Northern and Southern Lights

Few natural spectacles have the power to make people forget everything else around them. One moment the sky appears perfectly ordinary; minutes later, green, purple or pink curtains seem to ripple above the horizon. The aurora occurs when energetic particles associated with solar activity interact with Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere. The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis , occur around the Arctic, while their southern counterpart, the Aurora Australis , appears around Antarctica and the southern auroral zone.