Travel camera for beginners- northern lights edition

Hi everyone! I’ve been looking for a camera to purchase as a beginner.

This would mostly be used for travel photography, and I’m going to be hunting for the northern lights in Iceland soon so I’d love something semi compact with an easy enough learning curve. Happy to upgrade later when I gain some semblance of skill, but for now I’d love something that can capture the northern lights and other Iceland scenery.

It would be cool to find something that is also decent for video but it’s not the main priority.

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Budget: Ideally below $800 usd but $500 ish is preferred

Does this budget cover any lenses/accessories, or do you have a separate budget for those? Includes lenses + accessories

Country: USA

Condition: looking at new only bc I don’t know where to start with reliable used cameras, but open to suggestion

Type of Camera: whatever is good for still travel photography for beginners. Open to a point and shoot but also open to a DSLR if I can theoretically continue to improve upon it as I learn more with different lenses.

What features do you absolutely need: not completely sure. I would’ve thought I needed flash but open to suggestion here!

Portability: this would be for travel so relatively compact is probably ideal.

Cameras you're considering: I think the leading contender is the Sony ZV-1F/B Megapixel Compact, mainly because I see it recommended as an underrated beginner camera, and I found a good deal at Walmart ($498.00)