Spider-Webb: Spatially-Resolved Evidence of Inside-Out Quenching in the Spiderweb Protocluster at $z \sim 2$

TL;DR

This study uses JWST and HST imaging to analyze galaxy quenching in the Spiderweb Protocluster at z~2.16, revealing inside-out quenching patterns and their relation to galaxy morphology and feedback mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides the first spatially-resolved evidence of inside-out quenching at high redshift, linking quenching to galaxy structure and AGN feedback during early galaxy evolution.

Findings

Quiescent galaxies show mass-dependent inside-out quenching.

Central sSFR is significantly lower than outer regions in massive quiescent galaxies.

Quenching correlates with bulge-dominated morphology and AGN activity.

Abstract

We present a spatially-resolved analysis of galaxy quenching within the Spiderweb Protocluster at $z \sim 2.16$, combining deep imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). 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 $\log(M_*/M_{\odot}) \geq 10.5$, 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 anti-correlates with S\'ersic 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 $z \sim 2$, with the observed inside-out patterns and morphological correlations consistent with AGN-driven feedback processes. Our study provides key observational constraints on galaxy evolution during this critical epoch.