India, April 7 -- I first glimpsed the northern lights on a red-eye flight across the Atlantic. Just a few pale wisps in the night sky were enough to get me hooked on the celestial phenomenon, and my aurora chasing has since brought me to Greenland, Iceland, and Churchill, Canada. Now, my sights are set on their even more elusive counterpart: the southern lights, or aurora australis.

Here's everything you need to know about the southern lights, including when and where to see them.

Jonathan Belles is a meteorologist at The Weather Channel and weather.com.

Dr. Jason Steffen is an associate professor of physics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

What are the southern lights?

Rare Aurora | Image credit: Future Publishing/Getty Imag...