[2] Bobstephens orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.0–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 2 months (1,523 days).
[5] In August 2008, a rotational lightcurve of Bobstephens was obtained from photometric observations by American amateur astronomer Daniel Coley at the Center for Solar System Studies in California.
Light-curve analysis gave a rotation period of 9.55 hours with a brightness variation of 0.20 magnitude (U=2).
[3] This minor planet was named for Californian amateur astronomer and photometrist Robert D. Stephens (born 1955), who is an expert in lightcurve photometry of minor planets since 1999.
[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 24 July 2002 (M.P.C.