MACULÆ, in astronomy, dark spots appearing on the luminous faces of the sun, moon, and even some of the planets. See Astronomy.

These spots are most numerous and easily observed in the sun. It is not uncommon to see them in various forms, magnitudes, and numbers, moving over the sun's disk. They were first of all discovered by the lyncean astronomer Galileo, in the year 1610, soon after he had finished his new-invented telescope.