The star formation histories of early-type galaxies : Insights from the rest-frame ultraviolet

Our current understanding of the star formation histories of early-type galaxies is reviewed, in the context of recent observational studies of their ultraviolet (UV) properties. Combination of UV and optical spectro-photometric data indicates that the bulk of the stellar mass in the early-type population forms at high redshift (z > 2), possibly over short timescales (<1 Gyr). Nevertheless, early-types of all luminosities form stars over the lifetime of the Universe, with most luminous (-23 <M(V)-21) counterparts form 30-60% of their mass in the same redshift range. The large scatter in the (rest-frame) UV colours in the redshift range 0