  Near-infrared images of the center of the Cas A supernova remnant taken with
the NICMOS 2 camera on HST using the F110W and F160W filters (~J & ~H bands)
have magnitude limits of 26.2 and 24.6 respectively, but reveal no sources
within a 1.2" radius of the Chandra detected central X-ray point source (XPS).
The NICMOS data, taken together with broadband optical magnitude limits (R ~ 28
mag) obtained from a deep STIS CCD exposure taken with a clear filter (50CCD),
indicate that the XPS luminosities are very low in the optical/NIR bands (e.g.,
L_H < 3 x E29 erg/s) with no optical, J, or H band counterpart to the XPS
easily detectable by HST. We discuss the nature of the Cas A central compact
object based upon these new near-infrared and optical flux limits.
