There is no conclusive explanation of why ˜80 per cent of planetary nebulae (PNe) are non-spherical. In the Binary Hypothesis, a binary interaction is a preferred channel to form a non-spherical PN. A fundamental step to corroborate or disprove the Binary Hypothesis is to estimate the binary fraction of central stars of PNe (CSPNe) and compare it with a prediction based on the binary fraction of the progenitor, main-sequence population. In this paper, the second in a series, we search for spatially unresolved I- and J-band flux excess in an extended sample of 34 CSPN by a refined measurement technique with a better quantification of the uncertainties. The detection rate of I- (J-)band flux excess is 32 ± 16 per cent (50 ± 24 per cent). This result is very close to what was obtained in Paper I with a smaller sample. We account conservatively for unobserved cool companions down to brown dwarf luminosities, increasing these fractions to 40 ± 20 per cent (62 ± 30 per cent). This step is very sensitive to the adopted brightness limit of our survey. Accounting for visual companions increases the binary fraction to 46 ± 23 per cent (71 ± 34 per cent). These figures are lower than in Paper I. The error bars are better quantified, but still unacceptably large. Taken at face value, the current CSPN binary fraction is in line with the main-sequence progenitor population binary fraction. However, including white dwarfs companions could increase this fraction by as much as 13 (21) per cent points.

Context. The ESO Public Survey VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) provides deep multi-epoch infrared observations for an unprecedented 562 sq. deg of the Galactic bulge and adjacent regions of the disk. Nearly 150 new open clusters and cluster candidates have been discovered in this survey. Aims: We present the fourth article in a series of papers focussed on young and massive clusters discovered in the VVV survey. This article is dedicated to the cluster VVV CL041, which contains a new very massive star candidate, WR 62-2. Methods: Following the methodology presented in the first paper of the series, wide-field, deep JHKs VVV observations, combined with new infrared spectroscopy, are employed to constrain fundamental parameters (distance, reddening, mass, age) of VVV CL041. Results: We confirm that the cluster VVV CL041 is a young (less than 4 Myr) and massive (3 ± 2 × 103 M⊙) cluster, and not a simple asterism. It is located at a distance of 4.2 ± 0.9 kpc, and its reddening is AV = 8.0 ± 0.2 mag, which is slightly lower than the average for the young clusters towards the centre of the Galaxy. Spectral analysis shows that the most luminous star of the cluster, of the WN8h spectral type, is a candidate to have an initial mass larger than 100 M⊙.