  Stars mostly form in groups consisting of a few dozen to several ten thousand
members. For 30 years, theoretical models provide a basic concept of how such
star clusters form and develop: they originate from the gas and dust of
collapsing molecular clouds. The conversion from gas to stars being incomplete,
the left over gas is expelled, leading to cluster expansion and stars becoming
unbound. Observationally, a direct confirmation of this process has proved
elusive, which is attributed to the diversity of the properties of forming
clusters. Here we take into account that the true cluster masses and sizes are
masked, initially by the surface density of the background and later by the
still present unbound stars. Based on the recent observational finding that in
a given star-forming region the star formation efficiency depends on the local
density of the gas, we use an analytical approach combined with \mbox{N-body
simulations, to reveal} evolutionary tracks for young massive clusters covering
the first 10 Myr. Just like the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is a measure for
the evolution of stars, these tracks provide equivalent information for
clusters. Like stars, massive clusters form and develop faster than their
lower-mass counterparts, explaining why so few massive cluster progenitors are
found.

Astrophysics of Galaxies;Solar and Stellar Astrophysics