Hi @jerrell, it looks like not too many folks here on the forums have much experience photographing the aurora! I’ve only seen it like once or twice in my life, and not obvious enough to be able to take pictures of. 😀
Perhaps any of these articles could help, if you haven’t already scoured the Internet for what you’re looking for…
https://capturetheatlas.com/how-to-photograph-the-northern-lights/
https://www.davemorrowphotography.com/2014/10/how-to-photograph-northern-lights.html
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/how-to-photograph-the-northern-lights-according-to-an-expert
My experience with night sky photography is, yes, a wider aperture is better than a wide lens. But if you can have both, you’ll have it made! If you can afford something wide angle at 2.8 or wider, that would be the next step for better night sky photos.