Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 September 2017
This review summarizes the techniques and results of a λ21cm and λ6cm search with the Westerbork telescope for planetary nebulae within 2° of the galactic center. After accounting for background sources and compact HII regions it appears that there are ~ 300 planetaries within 300 pc of Sgr A. This is consistent with a galactic population of ~ 21000 and agrees with the birthrate of white dwarfs. The surface density of galactic center planetaries falls off with galactic latitude approximately as b−1 and is best accounted for by a bulge with a mass of 1 X 1010 M⊙.