Big Bertha (named by Colonel Everett Young) is a gas giant in an unnamed galaxy. The Ancient ship, Destiny, passed through the atmosphere of the gas giant on its preprogrammed course.
By doing so, the path of the completely powerless Destiny was altered by the planet's gravitational pull and the ship was put on a direct collision course with a nearby star. However, the ship's crew later discovered that Destiny had done this on purpose to recharge its depleted power reserves. There are three other planets in the same system as the gas giant, but it was discovered that only one could support life. (SGU: "Darkness")
Behind the scenes[]
- Bertha is female Germanic name, which means "bright one". Big Bertha was a name of German mortar during World War I.
- In Sanctuary, Big Bertha is the name of a Spider-like creature introduced in the season two finale.