robert d stephens

I have been an amateur astronomer for almost five decades, joining the Riverside Astronomical Society in 1974. Since 1999, when I attended the Minor Planet Amateur-Professional Workshop at Lowell Observatory, I have been active in asteroid research. Since then, I created almost 1,200 asteroid lightcurves and has published or co-published over 300 research papers, articles and announcements. In this period, I discovered 18 suspected or confirmed binary asteroids. I am the operator of the Center for Solar System Studies, a charitable organization that has property in the Southern California desert with nine observatories and 15 remotely operated telescopes. This observatory complex operates up to 270 nights per year. In addition to my research on solar system objects, I like to travel around the world to see solar eclipses. I have seen 19 Total Solar Eclipses, 3 Annular Solar Eclipses, 6 Partial Solar Eclipses, and 18 Total Lunar Eclipses. I am the current Treasurer of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) and serve 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. I am also the Associate Coordinator of the Minor Planet Section of the American Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers (ALPO). In 2011 I 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.