re: In fact, double yipes!
Several novae are observed every year from earth, and the supernova rate is roughly one per galaxy per century. We see them in other galaxies all the time but a nearby supernovae in our galaxy hasn't been seen for hundreds of years. A nearby supernovae would yield highly detailed spectra astronomers would give up their firstborns for.
The point I was trying to make, though, is that the sun is not a supernova candidate, we know stellar evolution well enough to predict which stars are about to blow (within the next few million years). If a star known to be a stable, main sequence star went supernovae, it would be a very unexpected event, and it would demand explanation. It might even be an artifact.