By running repeated computer simulations, he has worked out what would happen if a red-dwarf star were to pass through the solar system.

ECONOMIST: To the ends of the earth

Now, an international team of astronomers has trained the Fermi space-based gamma ray telescope on V407 Cygni, a "binary" system comprising a white dwarf star and a red giant companion, 9, 000 light-years away.

BBC: Gamma rays from nova explosion surprise astronomers

Standard Type Ia supernovae are binary systems in which a white dwarf star draws so much matter from its companion (often a red giant) that it undergoes a kind of energy overload and detonates.

FORBES: When A Supernova ... Fizzles