What would a realistic plasma shield look like?

A follow-up to my previous question-barrage: Properties of magnetically confined plasma shielding

After some of the feedback, I'm splitting it into several smaller questions.

In the world I'm building up for a game, one of the factions have magnetically confined plasma shielding technology. I'm changing it up and making the shield an active defense, rather than a passive barrier as most forms of science fiction use them. The way they're defined, the heat from this plasma would dissipate quickly and would likely cook the hull and crew/pilot if the temperature could be maintained for an extended period of time.

Not to mention the other effects:

• The energy emitted by the shield would saturate the EM sensors, blinding the ship's instruments to all but higher frequency active scans.
• I imagine this being fairly bright and/or obscuring to the pilot's vision.
• The shield would block fire in both directions and may even make thrusters useless while active.

How it works

The plasma is stored in a magnetic bottle and kept at high temperature. The gases used for the plasma are the byproducts of the ship's fusion reactor (so anything between helium and iron on the periodic table,) meaning it passively replenishes as the ship's reactor is running. The plasma is vented through a series of ports around the hull then confined in a magnetic field to enclose the ship. The shield lasts up to a few seconds and gives the ship protection to most weapons.

So, what I'm trying to figure out is what this shield would actually look like. Would it look like a miniature star in the shape of the ship's magnetic field? Or would it more resemble a glowing cloud around the ship?

Would the pilot simply see a blinding light from all directions outside their ship?

posted about 7 years ago

Arvex‭

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