[BM94] 14 , the SIMBAD biblio

We have observed the southern emission nebula RCW 49 with the PSPC instrument on board the ROSAT satellite. Diffuse X-ray emission is seen to extend over a large portion of the detector. Two regions of X-ray emission can be identified: one associated to the core of the optical nebula, where the X-ray correlate with the optical, and a fainter one anticorrelated with the optical. The young star cluster Westerlund 2 is detected as peaked emission inside the core region, and is resolved in at least three point sources. The morphology and possible nature of the extended X-ray emission are discussed, together with their interrelation with other objects in the field. Among the additional point sources detected in the field, two of the three Wolf-Rayet stars present in this region are tentatively identified.