The astrophysically important wavelength region below ~ 1200 Å is
still relatively unexplored, at least at low redshift where restframe
observations must be obtained from space. Prior to the launch of FUSE
(Moos et al. 2000),
far-ultraviolet (far-UV) studies were limited to bright objects. The
earliest spectral data for bright stars were obtained by Copernicus
(Rogerson et al. 1973)
and ORFEUS
(Grewing et al. 1991),
and with the UV spectrometers on the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft
(Longo et al. 1989).
Voyager 2 also succeeded in recording a far-UV spectrum of M33
(Keel 1998).
HUT
(Davidsen 1993)
was the first instrument sensitive enough to collect spectra of faint
galaxies below Ly-
. The
mission was flown on two missions and generated a rich database of
far-UV spectra of actively
star-forming and starburst galaxies. Subsequently, FUSE with its
superior resolution and sensitivity fully opened the
far-UV window to starburst galaxies. Most of this review deals with
results obtained with FUSE and, to a smaller degree, with HUT.