Chromospheric horizontal propagating shock waves revealed by fast cadence imaging in Ca II K with DKIST’s Visible Broadband Imager

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope is currently acquiring first science data as part of its Operations Commissioning Phase. High-resolution, fast-cadence imaging in the chromospheric Ca II K filter of the Visible Broadband Imager reveals signatures of bright arches emanating radially from the locations of G-band bright points. The G-band bright points denote small-scale magnetic elements harboring strong magnetic fields. Comparison with 3-D simulations suggest that the traveling bright arches are acoustic waves or shock fronts, triggered by the movements of magnetic elements. Inspecting several examples of the events we indeed see the photospheric bright points changing their appearance and position, indicating either a horizontal movement, perhaps swaying, or rotation and seem to be the source location for the bright arches.