Spider-webb: Spatially Resolved Evidence of Inside-out Quenching in the Spiderweb Protocluster at <i>z</i>  ∼ 2

Abstract We present a spatially resolved analysis of galaxy quenching within the Spiderweb Protocluster at z ∼ 2.16, combining deep imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope. Utilizing pixel-by-pixel spectral energy distribution fitting, we derive maps of stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), specific SFR (sSFR), and rest-frame UVJ colors. Quiescent galaxies, predominantly found at <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mi>log</mml:mi> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>*</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mo>≥</mml:mo> <mml:mn>10.5</mml:mn> </mml:math> , exhibit clear mass-dependent inside-out quenching, with central sSFR approximately an order of magnitude lower than outer regions, while lower-mass star-forming galaxies show flat sSFR profiles. Central star formation activity fundamentally anticorrelates with Sérsic index, indicating reduced activity in bulge-dominated systems. Spatially resolved UVJ colors reveal heterogeneous internal star formation, distinguishing star-forming regions in quiescent hosts from those in globally star-forming systems. These findings demonstrate that quenching mechanisms were effectively operating by z ∼ 2, with the observed inside-out patterns and morphological correlations consistent with active galactic nuclei-driven feedback processes. Our study provides key observational constraints on galaxy evolution during this critical epoch.