  Observations in the rest frame ultraviolet from various space missions are
used to define the nearby starburst regions having the highest surface
brightness on scales of several hundred pc. The bright limit is found to be
6x10^-16 ergs/cm^2-s-A-arcsec^2 for rest frame wavelength of 1830 A. Surface
brightness in the brightest pixel is measured for 18 galaxies in the Hubble
Deep Field having z > 2.2. After correcting for cosmological dimming, we find
that the high redshift starbursts have intrinsic ultraviolet surface brightness
that is typically four times brighter than low redshift starbursts. It is not
possible to conclude whether this difference is caused by decreased dust
obscuration in the high redshift starburst regions or by intrinsically more
intense star formation. Surface brightness enhancement of starburst regions may
be the primary factor for explaining the observed increase with redshift of the
ultraviolet luminosity arising from star formation.
