  We present optical data gathered by the VLT Test Camera in the V-band at the
radio (interferometric) position of PSR1706-44. We find no optical counterpart
to the pulsar in the VLT image. At a distance of 2.7 arcsec from a nearby
bright star, the 3-sigma upper limit to the pulsar magnitude above the
background is V = 25.5. Within an error circle of 1.0 arcsec the upper limit is
degraded in the direction towards the star. At a distance < 2 arcsec from the
star we can with confidence only claim an upper limit of V = 24.5. This is
still several magnitudes fainter than previous estimates. The implications of
the optical upper limit taken together with the high energy pulsed gamma-ray
radiation for theoretical models of pulsar emission are discussed.
