  The Luminous Blue Variable star Eta Carinae is one of the most massive stars
known. It underwent a giant eruption in 1843 in which the Homunculus nebula was
created. ROSAT and ASCA data indicate the existence of a hard and a soft X-ray
component which appear to be spatially distinct: a softer diffuse shell of the
nebula around Eta Carinae and a harder point-like source centered on the star
Eta Car. Astonishingly the morphology of the X-ray emission is very different
from the optical appearance of the nebula. We present a comparative analysis of
optical morphology, the kinematics, and the diffuse soft X-ray structure of the
nebula around Eta Carinae. Our kinematic analysis of the nebula shows extremely
high expansion velocities. We find a strong correlation between the X-ray
emission and the knots in the nebula and the largest velocities, i.e. the X-ray
morphology of the nebula around Eta Carinae is determined by the interaction
between material streaming away from Eta Car and the ambient medium.
