Photos: Mt. Wilson telescope

Retired engineers Kenneth Evans, from left, William Leflang and Gale Gant shoulder much of the responsibility for keeping the Mt. Wilson Observatory’s cluster of vintage telescopes from deteriorating into nonfunctioning museum pieces.

Kenneth Evans climbs a ladder to work on the century-old 100-inch reflector telescope at the Mt. Wilson Observatory in the Angeles National Forest.

Kenneth Evans climbs a ladder to work on the giant reflector telescope that dominated the world of astronomy for more than three decades.

Retired electrical engineer William Leflang tests updated wiring in a room below the giant reflector telescope.

A portrait of astronomer Edwin Hubble, who made important discoveries about the universe with the 100-inch reflector telescope, at the observatory.

Former aerospace engineers Kenneth Evans, right, and Gale Gant work on placing a updated bracket on the century-old 100-inch reflector telescope atop Mt. Wilson.

Kenneth Evans, right, and Gale Gant work on the 100-inch reflector telescope. “Some folks refer to this scope as the grand dame of astronomy,” Gant says. “We call it a complex beast.”