Description
The Orbitrap Astral Mass Spectrometer combines three mass analyzers: a quadrupole mass analyzer for high selectivity and high ion transmission; an Orbitrap mass analyzer for high dynamic range and high-resolution measurements; and a novel Astral analyzer for fast and sensitive measurements. The front end, from the ion source up to the segmented quadrupole mass filter, is designed to maximize instrument sensitivity and robustness. Ions are trapped and concentrated in the ion routing multipole, which facilitates the transfer of ions to either of the high-resolution accurate-mass (HRAM) analyzers. Synchronization of ion transfer and processing throughout the instrument enables the parallel handling of five separate ion packets simultaneously. This synchronization enables each mass analyzer to be used in combination to optimize performance and experimental flexibility.
The Orbitrap analyzer is ideally suited for the acquisition of high dynamic range HRAM MS and MS2 spectra, including an optional Biopharma mode to extend the mass range up to m/z 8,000. The Astral Mass Analyzer delivers high acquisition rates up to 200 Hz, single ion detection sensitivity, and high dynamic range HRAM SIM and MS2 measurements that are fully synchronized with parallel Orbitrap analyzer operation. Due to this synchronization the Orbitrap Astral Mass Spectrometer excels at many data acquisition strategies including High Resolution Data-Independent Acquisition (HR-DIA) and data-dependent acquisition (DDA). These acquisition strategies combined with the high resolution and dynamic range of the Orbitrap and Astral analyzers enable accurate and precise quantitation using either Label-Free Quantitation (LFQ) or multiplexing with Tandem Mass Tag (TMT)-labeled peptides.