Combination of 5, 3 minute images unfiltered.
SBIG STL-1001E CCD. 20" f/6.8 Dall-Kirkham cassegrain telescope at prime focus.
NGC 2185 is one of a string of faint reflection nebulae in Monoceros. Others that are visible in the same low-magnification field are NGC 2183, NGC 2182, and NGC 2170. In the image above, NGC 2185 is the small patch of nebulosity very close to the centre. Just to the right (west) of it is an even small patch. This is NGC 2183. The patch just to the lower right of NGC 2185 has no designation. Neither have I been able to locate a designation for the patch at the left edge. This is listed as a star in the GSC and USNO catalogs. The entire region is bathed in nebulosity, that becomes visible in the telescope whenever there is a bright star to illuminate it.