Context :

Aims : We observed the center of the supernova remnant Vela Jr in radio continuum in order to search for a counterpart to the compact central X-ray source CXOU J085201.4-461753 , possibly a neutron star candidate which could be the remnant of the supernova explosion .

Methods : Observations were made with the Australia Telescope Compact Array at 13 and 20 cm .
Spectral indices were obtained using flux density correlations of the data which were spatially filtered to have the same u-v coverage .
A multiwavelength search for counterparts to the compact central X-ray source was made .

Results : We compiled a new catalogue of 31 small diameter radio sources , including the previously known source PMN J0853-4620 , listing the integrated flux densities at 20 cm and , for half of the sources , the flux densities at 13 cm with the corresponding spectral indices .
All sources are unresolved at the present angular resolution except for Source 18 , which is clearly elongated and lies strikingly close to CXOU J085201.4-461753 .
Our observations show no evidence for the existence of a pulsar wind driven nebula associated with the point X-ray source .
Furthermore , Source 18 has a thermal spectrum with index \alpha = +0.8 \pm 0.4 ( S \propto \nu ^ { \alpha } ) , and appears to be the counterpart of the optical source Wray 16-30 .
In spite of the absence of [ O iii ] emission lines as reported in the literature , we find that this object could be explained as a low emission planetary nebula belonging to the “ butterfly ” morphological class .

Conclusions : We conclude that if the radio source 18 is actually a planetary nebula , then CXOU J085201.4-461753 is more likely to be related to it rather than to Vela Jr .