Optical observations of southern planetary nebula candidates

We present H alpha+[NII] images and low resolution spectra of 16 IRAS-selected, southern planetary nebula candidates previously detected in the radio continuum. The H alpha+[NII] images are presented as finding charts. Contour plots are shown for the resolved planetary nebulae. From these images mean optical angular diameters were determined. Optical spectra show that these IRAS-selected and radio detected planetary nebula candidates are indeed planetary nebulae. The values for their extinction coefficient is generally very high. More than half of the planetary nebulae seem to be of low excitation, having central stars with an effective temperature of probably similar to 60 000 K or less