An astrograph (or astrographic camera) is a telescope designed for the sole purpose of astrophotography. Astrographs are mostly used in wide-field astronomical surveys of the sky and for detection of objects such as asteroids, meteors, and comets.
Improvements in photography in the middle 19th century led to designs dedicated to astrophotography, and they were also popular in the 20th century. As in other photography, chemicals were used that respond to light, recorded on a glass photographic plate or sometimes on photographic film. Many observatories of this period used an astrograph, beside instruments like the transit telescope, great refractors, and chronometers, or instruments for observing the Sun.