This is one of those clusters that makes you ask, "Why even bother?" NGC 2186 resides in northeastern Orion. The brilliant red giant, Betelgeuse, blazes about 4.5 degrees to the northwest. A 129X view in the 10-inch equatorial Newtonian is on display in the sketch at left. Believe it or not, the cluster is centered. NGC 2186 is only 4' in size. Averted vision does hint at a slew of faint background stars but there are precious few visible under direct scrutiny. About 30 stars are dispersed over the field. The magnificent Rosette nebula lies just 5 degrees due east. Like I said, "Why bother?"