If you have ever been lucky enough to see the aurora borealis in person, there's nothing quite like it. And if you saw the colors dancing across the sky, you were most likely standing in the auroral zone.

The auroral zone is a ring-shaped region around Earth’s magnetic poles where auroras, also known as the northern and southern lights, are most commonly seen. These glowing displays of light appear in the sky when charged particles from the Sun collide with gases in Earth's upper atmosphere, creating brilliant shades of green, pink, red, and purple. The auroral zone is where these collisions are most likely to happen because of how Earth’s magnetic field guides those solar particles.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the auroral zone stretches across parts of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. A similar zone circles the South Pole, though it’s harder to observe from land due to its remote location. The auroral zone isn’t fixed. It expands and contracts depending on solar activity. During powerful solar storms, it can stretch farther south, bringing the aurora to places that rarely see it.

The auroral zone isn't just beautiful, it’s also a visible reminder of the connection between space weather and our planet. Scientists monitor this region to better understand geomagnetic storms, which can disrupt GPS, power grids, and satellite communications.

Jennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.