Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Earth (besides our Sun). If it went supernova, would such an event negatively affect the Earth? Can Proxima Centauri negatively affect the Earth in some other fashion?
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3Proxima Centauri is an M5 dwarf. It will never go supernova. – AtmosphericPrisonEscape Jun 02 '21 at 00:29
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And what about the second part of the OP? – tale852150 Jun 02 '21 at 00:35
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2@fasterthanlight answered the first part (and thank you for getting this gist of my question) but not the second. – tale852150 Jun 02 '21 at 00:36
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2The simple answer to that is no. To affect the Earth significantly, it needs to pass very close (less than 100-1000 AU), which is virtually impossible. – WarpPrime Jun 02 '21 at 00:46
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1@fasterthanlight Ok, great. Now I need one of you to combine your comments as an answer and then I can accept it. – tale852150 Jun 02 '21 at 00:48
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1See https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/supernove-distance/ for the effects of nearby supernovae – planetmaker Jun 02 '21 at 02:16
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1@planetmaker thx. I’ll check it out – tale852150 Jun 02 '21 at 02:17
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First thing, Proxima Centauri cannot go supernova. It is only $0.12 M_\odot$, while core-collapse supernovae can only be triggered by stars that are more massive than $8 M_\odot$. Now the only exception here is if it undergoes a type Ia supernova, but this is very unrealistic because Proxima won't become a white dwarf in trillions of years and is not part of a binary system that is close enough to engage in mass transfer.
To answer your second question, the answer is also no. To affect the Earth significantly, it needs to pass very close (less than 100-1000 AU), which is virtually impossible. Proxima will not approach closer than 3 light years from our Sun in the near future, so it absolutely has no effect on the Solar System. See my answer regarding stellar collisions.
WarpPrime
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As an ordinary star Proxima Centauri would have to get very close forits gravity to mess up the solar system. But if it could somehow turn into a supernova, a supernova at the distance of Proima Centauri would be very bad for life on Earth. – M. A. Golding Jun 02 '21 at 14:53
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According to this site, the safest distance from a supernova is at least 50 light years. – Snack Exchange Mar 09 '22 at 19:05