More than 12 billion years old, this quaternion system, in the distant past, boasted four massive super-giant stars orbiting one another in two barycentric pairings along with some now unknowable number of planets. At some point in the distant past, the stars collapsed three becoming neutron stars while the remnant of the fourth, their heavier sibling, gathered additional mass through accretion and imploded, collapsing into a black hole currently boasting 5.55 Solar Masses.

77 kls from the black hole orbit a binary pair of neutron stars locked in a super-fast, but ultimately doomed, decaying barycentric orbit. Today they revolve around one another at a distance of 4.7 ls, in 6.6 hours.

Orbiting them are eight high metal content worlds with metallic cores. Seven are landable and three retain their carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide atmospheres, though any remnant of life have long since been stripped away. From the surface of the nearest (tidally locked) planet (body CD 1), only 320 ls away, its parent neutron stars are clearly visible to explorers standing on the planet’s surface.

Similarly, looking away from the binary neutrons, explorers can see the distortion field created by the primary black hole, lit by its partner neutron star, against the backdrop of the Milky Way.

The system is named for Cerberus, the three-headed dog known as the Hound of Hades, who, according to Greek mythology, guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving.

In the distant past, this quaternion system boasted four super-giant stars orbiting one another in barycentric pairs. However, at some point in the last 12 billion years, the stars have collapsed: three became neutron stars, while the fourth gathered additional mass, up to 5.55 Solar Masses, and collapsed into a black hole.

77 kls away from the black hole a binary pair of neutron stars are locked in a close and fast orbit. Today they revolve around one another at a distance of 4.7 ls, in 6.6 hours.

Orbiting the pair are eight high metal content worlds, seven of which are landable. Three of these have retained their thin carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide atmospheres, though any remnants of life have long since been stripped away. From the surface of the nearest (tidally locked) planet (body CD 1), which is only 320 ls away from the twin neutron stars it co-orbits, the pair is clearly visible to explorers standing on the planet's surface.

Similarly, looking away from the binary pair, explorers can see the distortion created by the black hole, lit by its partner neutron star, against the backdrop of the Milky Way.

The system is named after Cerberus, the three-headed dog known as the Hound of Hades, who, according to Greek mythology, guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving.