Undetected Binary Stars Cause an Observed Mass Dependent Age Gradient in Upper Scorpius

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that the observed age gradient in Upper Scorpius is likely caused by undetected binary stars, affecting age measurements and supporting a ~10 million-year age estimate.

Contribution

The paper shows that unresolved binary stars can explain the mass-dependent age gradient in Upper Scorpius, highlighting a systematic effect in stellar age determination.

Findings

Undetected binaries cause apparent age differences between stellar masses.

Simulated populations reproduce observed age gradients.

Supports a ~10 Myr age for Upper Scorpius with small intrinsic spread.

Abstract

Young stellar associations represent a key site for the study of star formation, but to accurately compare observations to models of stellar evolution, the age of an association must be determined. The Upper Scorpius region is the youngest section of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association, which is the largest collection of nearby, young, low-mass stars. The true age of Upper Scorpius is not clear, and an observed mass-dependent age gradient in Upper Scorpius, as well as in other star-forming regions, complicates age measurements. The age gradient may indicate a genuine astrophysical feature or may be an artifact of unrecognized systematic effects in stellar age measurements. We have conducted a synthetic red-optical low-resolution spectroscopic survey of a simulated analog to the Upper Scorpius star-forming region to investigate the effects of unresolved binary stars (which have mass-dependent demographics) on age measurements of a stellar population. We find that the observed mass-dependent age gradient in Upper Scorpius can be explained by a population of undetected binary stars. For a simulated population with an age of 10 (RMS = 2) Myr, we measure an age of 10.5 (RMS = 3.5) Myr for F stars, and 7.5 (RMS = 5.8) Myr for M stars. This discrepancy is caused by the mass-dependent mass ratio distribution and the variable steepness of the mass-luminosity relation. Our results support the previously suggested 10 Myr age for Upper Scorpius, with a small intrinsic age spread.