Threshold

Threshold is a planet in the Soell star system. It is an immense gas giant with a diameter of 214,604km (133,349 miles), and one natural satellite, Basis. The atmosphere is made up of white Ammonia clouds, amber-colored Ammonium Hydrosulfide clouds, Phosphorus compounds, ice crystals and other gases. Threshold is known to have storms in its atmosphere similar to the storms that occur on the planet Jupiter, since there was a large storm present at the Battle of the Gas Mine.

Threshold's Earth Survey Catalog number is B1008-AG.

Forerunner Activity
Over 100,000 years ago, it was a part of the sizable and extensive Forerunner empire. They built at least one automated, viable Gas Mine complex in the upper atmosphere of the planet, likely harvesting the hydrogen gas of the planet. The hydrogen was probably used as transmutation material for construction, though this is not confirmed. Threshold was a neutral location.

Several hundred or thousand years later, upon the discovery of the Flood, the Forerunners refitted the Gas Mines to serve as Flood Research Facilities. These facilities proved only one thing: more extreme measures were needed to combat the Flood and to keep them from spreading.

The Forerunners, then chose the planet as a staging point to construct one of their massive fortress worlds, know as Halo and numbered as Installation 04. The Halo was constructed on the lagrange point between Threshold and Basis and was designed to destroy all sentient life in the galaxy, thereby halting the spread of the Flood, due to starvation.

In 2552, the Covenant were looking for an artifact from Sigma Octanus IV to uncover this planet as the location of the "Sacred Ring", in order to start the Great Journey. The Fleet of Particular Justice followed the UNSC Pillar of Autumn there, and, in a series of events, Installation 04 was destroyed.

The Heretics then took refuge on the Gas Mine (they had been based at a makeshift camp on Basis until this point) before the Arbiter and his Special Ops troops dropped it into Threshold's depths. High Charity and its Fleet briefly visited Threshold as well, until they jumped to Installation 05.

Size
Threshold is an immense gas giant, far larger than Jupiter from the Sol System. Its moon, Basis, is in fact the size of a huge rock planet. Basis' diameter is nearly double that of the Earth. A completely-to-scale accurate planetary comparison sheet authored by Stephen Loftus is available here.

Trivia

 * The inner core of Threshold is liquid nitrogen, as told by 343 Guilty Spark during the battle with the Heretic Leader, Sesa 'Refumee.
 * Threshold is described as purple in the book, Halo: The Flood, though throughout Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, it is only shown as orange.
 * Threshold could possibly have a Portal to the Ark located on the planet due to the raging storm that forms under the Gas Mine, which greatly resembles the storm over the Portal on Earth.
 * It is speculated that Portals could be used to transport replacement Halo Installations from the Ark to the location of the Halo it replaced, but that would not explain why the portal would already be activated, unless it was automatically activated when building of the replacement Halo started.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, the assault rifle's compass arrow points at the gas giant.