[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Hydri

...has Beta Hydri being barely more massive than the Sun. It won't even make a decent Red Giant.

Though that was the premise of the anime Stellvia of the Universe. Earth is devastated by the lightspeed radiation of the supernova Beta Hydri, and 200 years later they are preparing a defense against the matter shockwave.

(The numbers don't work, but they do drag in some Weird Physics later on to help explain it.)