Quantifying Systematic Age Discrepancies in Very Young Star Clusters

Abstract

We infer the ages of three young stellar clusters, NGC 2004, NGC 7419, and NGC 2100, using Stellar Ages, a statistical algorithm designed to infer stellar population properties from color magnitude diagrams. Recent studies have revealed emerging inconsistencies in the inferred ages of very young stellar clusters with ages less than or equal to 50 Myr. Here, we identify and quantify two distinct discrepancies. First, we identify a systematic age offset of 0.60 plus minus 0.06 dex between red supergiant and bright blue star age estimates, equivalent to a factor of approximately 4.0 in linear age, with bright blue star ages appearing systematically younger than those inferred from red supergiants. Second, given the observed numbers of red supergiants and bright blue stars, we find a pronounced deficit of lower-mass main-sequence stars relative to expectations from a standard initial mass function. Although these discrepancies resemble those reported for intermediate-age clusters, their magnitude and character suggest that they are unique to the evolution of massive stars. Together, these results highlight population-level inconsistencies with single-star evolutionary models and underscore the need to consider multiple evolutionary tracers when age-dating young clusters. By combining individual stellar ages with population-wide constraints, our approach refines prior work on cluster age determinations and provides new insight into massive star evolution and the interpretation of cluster demographics.