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Old January 28th 05, 03:07 PM
RMOLLISE
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Jason Macadamia wrote:
...what would we see and how would it affect us?

Thank you



Hi:

Well, luckily for us, Proxima is not a candidate for supernovahood.

In order for a star to become a supernova it must be a massive single
star, about 8 times more massive than the Sun. That results in a Type
II supernova, a single, huge star blowing its top.

OR...

A supernova, a Type I supernova, apparently comes from a binary star
system that probably includes a white dwarf and a fairly massive and
evolved giant companion star.

The Alpha/Proxima system does not fit these requirements. Which is a
danged good thing since the explosion of a supernova that close would
be...pretty bad news. IOW, it would open a real can of whoop-ass on us.
;-)

Again, luckily, it doesn't look like there are any candidate supernovae
progenitors close enough to put a hurtin' on us. ;-)

Peace,
Rod Mollise