To get with the aurora program I went out and did some shooting but not being content with what I could capture with a single frame in normal view, I went vertical with a view to doing stitching at home. As you do.
1st Stitching choice: Lightroom. Would not and could not stitch any photos using it.
2nd Stitching choice: PtGui. First pass it would not do any, but it allows for manual entering of points. This did not go well. I ended up with all sorts of wierd shapes for my "panorama."
3rd Stitching choice: Capture One 2022. Success.
Part of my challenge was being at a beach, so with it being dark, not a lot for the merging to use to pull things together.