ABOUT
Bob Stephens has been an amateur astronomer for five 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 1,200 asteroid lightcurves and has published or co-published over 350 research papers, articles and announcements. In this period, he discovered or co-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 21 Total Solar Eclipses 4 Annular Solar Eclipses, 6 Partial Solar Eclipses, and 19 Total Lunar Eclipses.
In his professional career, Bob was a Certified Public Accountant for 42 years, and co-founder of Fox & Stephens CPAs in 1988. He retired in 2024.
Bob is the current Treasurer of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) and is also 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, Treasurer, and Chief Observer of the Riverside Astronomical Society.
Bob is a Full Member of the American Astronomical Society and a member of the Division for Planetary Sciences. He was 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. Bob is also President of the Center for Solar System Studies, an organization which operates observatories and telescopes in the California desert specializing in planetary and stellar research.
Asteroid (39890) Bobstephens was named for him by the International Astronomical Union. In 1997 he 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, and the Planetary Society published this YouTube video.