Is There a Supernova?

Our son will probably end its life as a white dwarf so there will be a phase where becomes a red giant and blows out a lot of stuff. And at the core will be left a very, very dense blob of white dwarf. It's white not because thite's fusion going on inside it, but because it's glowing white hot. These white dwarfs usually just sit around for trillions of years and cool off. But sometimes, if there's another star that comes near by, they're so dense they can eat those stars. If they eat enough of them, that can trigger a supernova.