We present an analysis of ultraviolet ( UV ) emission in the outer regions of a local , volume-limited sample of 56 early-type galaxies , where H \alpha emission from massive star formation is typically absent .
We find excess faint NUV emission in the environments of our early-type galaxies compared to blank sky measured in the same tiles , indicating that the excesses are not due to background contamination .
We do not observe corresponding faint FUV excesses .
Faint NUV excesses increase with galaxy luminosity and are not correlated with the presence or absence of HI in the environments of these galaxies .
The faint NUV excesses in the outskirts of early-type galaxies can be interpreted as being due to star formation at or above a few \times 10 ^ { -5 } M _ { \odot } yr ^ { -1 } kpc ^ { -2 } ; star formation at this rate can create a few percent of the mass of an early-type galaxy in a Gyr .
Faint early types ( with M _ { B } > -21.3 ) have on average four times as many bright UV sources within 30 kpc compared to bright early types ( with M _ { B } < -21.3 ) .
The peak of the source distribution detected around faint early types is less luminous and slightly bluer than the peak of the sources detected around bright early types , indicating that early types with M _ { B } > -21.3 are more actively building up their mass with young stars .
The spatial distribution of bright sources around all early types increases approximately linearly out to 20 kpc and subsequently flattens .