Jesuit astronomer Born in 1575 near Mindelheim, Swabia; died in 1650 Neisse, Silesia. While engaged in research at Ingolstadt he discovered the existence of sun-spots. Prior discovery was claimed by Galileo, but Scheiner was the first to make continuous observations of scientific value. In 1616 the Archduke Maximilian invited him to Innshruck; here he made important studies in optics. He was the author of Rosa Utsina, a standard treatise on solar phenomena.