PHOEBE WORKSHOP

PHOEBE (PHysics Of Eclipsing BinareEs), the industry-standard software for modeling binary star systems, is developed at Villanova University in collaboration with an international team of scientists and developers.

Eighth Annual Workshop | August 10 - 14, 2026 | The Inn at Villanova University 

Villanova University will host the eighth PHOEBE Workshop, welcoming astronomers from around the world for an intensive week of collaboration, training, and scientific development. PHOEBE is the industry-standard software for modeling binary star systems, which are pairs of stars that orbit one another. PHOEBE is developed at Villanova in collaboration with an international team of scientists and developers.

Binary stars are among the most powerful laboratories in astrophysics. When their orbits are aligned so that the stars eclipse one another as seen from Earth, astronomers can use PHOEBE to translate those observations into precise measurements of fundamental stellar properties such as mass and radius. In other words, PHOEBE allows us to turn observations of binary stars into the accurate stellar parameters needed to understand how stars form, evolve, and interact.

The PHOEBE Workshop series reflects Villanova’s long-standing leadership in this area of research. Previous workshops have been held at Villanova as well as at institutions in Europe and China, and this year’s workshop will once again bring that international community to our campus. The 2026 workshop will focus on advanced PHOEBE applications in a collaborative hack-week format, giving participants the opportunity to work on their own science, contribute to the PHOEBE codebase, and help shape the future of binary star modeling.

The 8th PHOEBE Workshop is sponsored by Villanova’s College of Liberal Arts and Science, Villanova’s Department of Astrophysics and Planetary Science and the Villanova One Sky Center for Astrophysics.