The Carina Nebula in X‐rays

New ROSAT PSPC and HRI observations of the Carina Nebula region are used to examine the X‐ray emission from the discrete sources as well as the diffuse hot gas in the Carina Nebula near Eta Carina. The spectral and spatial response of the PSPC allow analysis of the 0.1–2.4 keV spectra of all the bright point sources in the region and an examination of the spectral variation of the diffuse X‐rays. Analysis of the diffuse emission shows that most of the emission comes from gas at a temperature of a few million degrees, but also indicates the presence of hot (4E7 K) diffuse gas in an 11 pc region around Eta Car. Eta Car shows a 3 component spectrum with temperatures of 1E6 and 4E7 K. A 0.1×0.2 pc shell of X‐ray emitting gas around Eta Car has been resolved by the HRI, and comparison of the Einstein HRI and ROSAT HRI images supports the suggestion that the soft components originate in the shell (which is unresolved by the PSPC) while the hottest gas is produced less than an arcsec from the optical star. Spectra of the bright O stars are characterized by 2 temperature components (1E7 K and 2E6 K) and generally show absorption columns larger than the interstellar column. PSPC and ROSAT HRI observations are used to examine the L_X/L_bol relation for hot stars in the field through the early‐B spectral class.