A. Zapata
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About
A. Zapata is a key figure in astronomical instrumentation, best known for their contributions to wide-field integral field spectroscopy. Their most prominent work centers on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey V (SDSS-V) Local Volume Mapper (LVM), an ambitious project designed to map the Milky Way, Magellanic Clouds, and nearby galaxies at unprecedented spatial resolution. As lead author of the foundational 2024 paper detailing the LVM Instrument (LVM-I), Zapata oversaw the design, construction, and performance validation of the robotic enclosure that houses this ultra-wide-field spectrograph. This work is critical for enabling high-resolution surveys of ionized gas and star formation across the local universe. With their paper already cited by other instrumentation teams, Zapata’s expertise in optomechanical design and survey infrastructure is shaping the next generation of ground-based astronomical facilities. Their role in SDSS-V highlights a career dedicated to building the tools that allow astronomers to explore the structure and evolution of galaxies in unprecedented detail.
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