We present refined color-color selection criteria for identifying Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars using available mid-infrared (MIR) photometry from WISE in combination with near-infrared (NIR) photometry from the Two Micron All Sky Survey. Using a sample of spectrally classified objects, we find that WR stars are well distinguished from the field stellar population in the (W 1 − W 2) versus (J − K s ) color-color diagram, and further distinguished from other emission line objects such as planetary nebulae, Be, and cataclysmic variable stars using a combination of NIR and MIR color constraints. As proof of concept we applied the color constraints to a photometric sample in the Galactic plane, located WR star candidates, and present five new spectrally confirmed and classified WC (1) and WN (4) stars. Analysis of the 0.8-5.0 μm spectral data for a subset of known, bright WC and WN stars shows that emission lines (primarily He i) extend into the 3.0-5.0 μm spectral region, although their strength is greatly diminished compared to the 0.8-2.5 μm region. The WR population stands out relative to background field stars at NIR and MIR colors due to an excess continuum contribution, likely caused by free-free scattering in dense winds. Mean photometric properties of known WRs are presented and imply that reddened late-type WN and WC sources are easier to detect than earlier-type sources at larger Galactic radii. WISE W 3 and W 4 images of 10 WR stars show evidence of circumstellar shells linked to mass ejections from strong stellar winds.

A new method of image subtraction is applied to images from a J, K, and narrow-band imaging survey of 300 deg 2 of the plane of the Galaxy, searching for new Wolf-Rayet stars. Our survey spans 150 • in Galactic longitude and reaches b = ±1 • with respect to the Galactic plane. The survey has a useful limiting magnitude of K = 15 over most of the observed Galactic plane, and K = 14 (due to severe crowding) within a few degrees of the Galactic centre. The new image subtraction method described here (better than aperture or even point-spread-function photometry in very crowded fields) detected several thousand emission-line candidates. In 2011 and 2012 June and July, we spectroscopically followed up on 333 candidates with MDM-TIFKAM and IRTF-SPEX, discovering 89 emission-line sources. These include 49 Wolf-Rayet stars, 43 of them previously unidentified, including the most distant known Galactic WR stars, more than doubling the number on the far side of the Milky Way. We also demonstrate our survey's ability to detect very faint PNe and other NIR emission objects.

We present the results of initial spectrographic followup with the Very Large Telescope (UT3, Melipal) for K s ≥ 14 Galactic plane C iv emission-line candidates in the near-infrared (NIR). These 7 faint stars all display prominent He i and C iv emission lines characteristic of a carbonrich Wolf-Rayet star. They have NIR colours which are much too blue to be those of distant, classical WR stars. The magnitudes and colours are compatible with those expected for central stars of planetary nebulae, and are likely to come from massive progenitor populations, and themselves be more massive than any sample of planetary nebulae known. Our survey has identified thousands of such candidates.