JWST imaging of the Pleiades: Anisotropy of turbulence in the cold neutral medium

¹ Laboratoire de Physique de l’ENS, Université PSL, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
² Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
³ Laboratoire Univers et Particules, Université de Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier, France
⁴ Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, San Juan, PR 00931, USA
⁵ Laboratoire d’Océanographie Physique et Spatiale, Univ. Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, 29200 Brest, France
⁶ Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR 7095, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, 75014 Paris, France
⁷ Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, 91405 Orsay, France
⁸ Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, LUX, 75014 Paris, France

^★ Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Received: 27 August 2025
Accepted: 24 January 2026

Abstract

Interstellar medium studies rely on magnetohydrodynamic turbulence as a framework for interpretation. In this context, the statistical characterization of interstellar observations is of prime importance. We present a new perspective on diffuse interstellar matter by analyzing James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations of the Pleiades nebula with NIRCam. These observations are remarkable in that they provide a “microscope” view of the cold neutral medium (CNM) with a spatial resolution of 0.2 mpc (40 au). A 2D Fourier analysis was used to characterize the structure of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission in regions near and far from the Pleiades star Merope. To produce maps of the interstellar emission, stars and galaxies were filtered out. The final step in the data cleaning involved subtracting a component, in Fourier space, which we inferred to be a residual of the near-infrared cosmic background. The PAH emission power spectra are highly anisotropic. This power anisotropy is constant across scales. The magnetic field orientation, as derived from the Planck dust polarization data, aligns with the PAH anisotropy. The spectra are well fitted with a break-free power law, suggesting that we do not observe a specific scale for energy dissipation. Power-law indices are −3.5 near Merope and −3 in the more distant field. These findings are discussed in relation to interstellar turbulence that may be driven by the Pleiades stars. The JWST observations of the Pleiades offer a new viewpoint for comparing observations and theoretical models, as they examine physical scales at which turbulence in the CNM is subsonic and decoupled from the thermal instability. The observations may indicate that the turbulent energy cascade in the CNM is anisotropic.