New planetary nebulae towards the galactic center

Sixteen planetary nebulae and a shocked peculiar nebula were discovered in the direction of the Galactic Center by means of direct inspection of the P alomar Observatory and ESO/SERC sky surveys. For all objects we obtained na rrow band H alpha imaging and medium resolution spectroscopy, allowing us t o derive the basic parameters of the emission nebulae. For half of the nebu lae of the sample, the central star candidate was identified and an estimat e of the star temperature and luminosity is given.