Bob Stephens has been an amateur astronomer for over 4 decades, joining the Riverside Astronomical Society in 1974. Since 1999, when he attended the Minor Planet Amateur-Professional Workshop at Lowell Observatory, he has been active in asteroid research. Since then, Bob has determined almost 1,100 asteroid lightcurves and has published or co-published over 300 research papers, articles and announcements. In this period, he discovered 18 binary asteroids.
In addition to his research on solar system objects, he likes to travel around the world to see solar eclipses. Bob has seen 19 Total Solar Eclipses 3 Annular Solar Eclipses, 6 Partial Solar Eclipses, and 17 Total Lunar Eclipses.
Bob is the current Treasurer of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) and serves on the Board and is Treasurer of the Society for Astronomical Sciences, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization whose purpose is to conduct seminars on Pro-Am collaborations. He is also Associate Coordinator of the Minor Planet Section of the American Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers (ALPO). In 2011 he retired from the Board of Directors and as Treasurer of the Riverside Telescope Makers Conference, Inc. (RTMC) and was the past President and past Treasurer of the Riverside Astronomical Society.
Bob became a Full Member of the American Astronomical Society and a member of the Division for Planetary Sciences. Finally, he is President and CFO of MoreData!, Inc. from 2010 to 2021, an organization created to manage research grants from NASA and the National Science Foundation for research scientists.
Asteroid (39890) Bobstephens was named by the International Astronomical Union. He also received the G. Bruce Blair Award from the Western Amateur Astronomers for many years of contribution to amateur astronomy. In 2009, the American Astronomical Society awarded Bob the Chambliss Award for Amateur Achievement. And in 2012, the Riverside Telescope Makers Conference awarded him the Clifford W. Holmes Award for major contributions in popularizing astronomy. Finally, in 2013, Bob received a Shoemaker Grant from the Planetary Society in support of their work at CS3.
NASA wrote a profile about Bob's asteroid work at the Center for Solar System Studies.
