Taurus (constellation) astronomers. Taurus hosts two of the nearest open clusters to Earth, the Pleiades and the Hyades, both of which are visible to the naked eye. At first magnitude, the red giant Aldebaran is the brightest star in the constellation. In the northwest part of Taurus is the supernova remnant Messier 1, more commonly known as the Crab Nebula. One of the closest regions of active star formation, the Taurus-Auriga complex, crosses into the northern part of the constellation. The variable star T Tauri is the prototype of a class of pre-main-sequence stars. Taurus is a big and prominent constellation in
Cerberus (constellation) Cerberus (constellation) Cerberus is an obsolete constellation created by Hevelius, whose stars are now included in the constellation Hercules. It was depicted as a three-headed snake that Hercules is holding in his hand. The constellation is no longer in use. This constellation "figure typified the serpent ... infesting the country around Taenarum the Μέτωπον of Greece, the modern Cape Matapan." The presence of Cerberus (Kerberos) at Taenarum (Tainaron) is mentioned by Strabo, Statius, and Seneca the Younger. John Senex combined this constellation with the likewise obsolete constellation Ramus Pomifer, an apple branch held by Hercules, in his 1721 star map