We present revised stellar ages for 23 pre-main-sequence (PMS) K- and M-type stars in the Upper Scorpius (Upper Sco) star-forming region, derived using stellar dynamical masses to constrain isochronal ages from five PMS stellar evolutionary models. We find that mass-constrained stellar ages for all model sets are more consistent with the older, ∼8–11 Myr age for Upper Sco derived using earlier-type stars. Additionally, applying the independent mass constraint to isochronal ages tends to (1) increase stellar ages for most model sets, and (2) decrease age scatter for individual sources between model sets. Models that account for global magnetic fields consistently provide the best match to our observations: they change comparatively little when the mass constraint is applied, and produce 9–10 Myr ages under both unconstrained and mass-constrained conditions. Most standard (nonmagnetic) models produce younger ages (3–5 Myr) when unconstrained, but older ages (6–9 Myr) when constrained by dynamical mass. Our results are consistent with recent literature findings that suggest median disk lifetimes may be ≳2× longer than previously thought.
Older Ages for 23 Pre-main Sequence Stars in Upper Scorpius Using Dynamical-mass-constrained Stellar Evolutionary Models
Abstract
Copyright and License
© 2026. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Acknowledgement
We offer our sincere thanks to M. Fang and G. Herczeg, who were kind enough to share their stellar data for Sco-Cen prior to formal publication of those data on CDS. This paper makes use of the following ALMA data: ADS/JAO.ALMA#2019.1.00493.S. ALMA is a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (USA) and NINS (Japan), together with NRC (Canada), NSTC and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory is operated by ESO, AUI/NRAO, and NAOJ. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. The results reported herein benefited from collaborations and/or information exchange within NASA’s Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) research coordination network, sponsored by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate under Agreement No. 80NSSC21K0593 for the program “Alien Earths.”
Software References
astropy (Astropy Collaboration et al. 2013,2018, 2022), pdspy (P. D. Sheehan et al. 2019).
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Towner_2026_ApJ_999_145.pdf
Additional details
Related works
- Is new version of
- Discussion Paper: arXiv:2601.22423 (arXiv)
Funding
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- 80NSSC21K0593
Dates
- Submitted
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2025-12-19
- Accepted
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2026-01-29
- Available
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2026-02-27Published
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- Caltech groups
- Astronomy Department , Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy (PMA)
- Publication Status
- Published