Nicole, wish I could use the remote you're talking about! I got the mC-DC2 I think it was, looked awesome, but wrong connector for my camera.
That's exactly the one I bought. Worked like a charm on my D600 but haven't tried it on my D810.
So, I think Ron is right about the IR remote being your only option because of your camera's fancy bluetooth settings (yay technology). Too bad they did away with the cable connector! Kind of like Apple doing away with the headphone jack on the iPhone--not yet, folks!!
Another thought--with the Bulb setting, you are not holding the button down--once to open and once again to close it (right Ron? I use it so rarely). You could probably do that with an IR remote pretty easily.
I actually do a lot of nighttime photography--I have found that I can depend on certain settings to capture the night sky and rarely have to venture away from them. I'm guessing that if you do some brief experimentation while shooting the Northern Lights, you will likely find some settings that you can stick with and not have to fiddle too much. It's just that initial experimentation that might be painful. (Granted, I shoot the Milky Way, not the Northern Lights, so I could be way off on this.)
From an article I just googled:
What kind of settings should one use to capture the Northern Lights?
There is no perfect recipe for capturing the northern lights because, as in any situation, your exposure will largely depend on the light. However, that being said, try setting you camera on full manual mode. Use the Live View setting on your camera’s display to ensure you get a sharp focus at infinity (or slightly less, depending on the lens). Set your ISO between 800 and 3200, your aperture between f/2.8 and f/5.6, and your shutter speed at between 15 seconds and 30 seconds. Note that shutter speeds of above 15 seconds will result in slight star movement. You’re ready. Lock you mirror up, compose, and shoot. If you end up with a slightly overexposed or underexposed image, play with a combinations of these settings until you get the exposure to where you want it.
Found it here: A Beginning Photographer’s Guide to Photographing The Northern Lights | PetaPixel
This seems logical to me, though I completely disagree with the statement that stars will streak after 15 seconds--that depends entirely on the length of your lens. With my 14mm I can expose for 30 seconds without streaking.
Just a few more thoughts...