We present Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer observations of the star-forming galaxy Mrk 54 at z = 0.0448 .
The Lyman continuum radiation is not detected above the H i absorption edge in our Galaxy .
An upper limit is evaluated by comparison with the background measured in regions of the detector adjacent to the observed spectrum .
A spectral window of 16 Å , reasonably free of additional H i Lyman series line absorption is used .
No correction is needed for molecular hydrogen absorption in our Galaxy but a foreground extinction of 0.29 mag is accounted for .
An upper limit of 6.15 \times 10 ^ { -16 } erg cm ^ { -2 } s ^ { -1 } A ^ { -1 } is obtained for the flux at \approx 900 Å in the rest frame of Mrk 54 .
By comparison with the number of ionizing photons derived from the H \alpha flux , this limit translates into an upper limit of f _ { \mathrm { esc } } < 0.062 for the fraction of Lyman continuum photons that escape the galaxy without being absorbed by interstellar material .
This limit compares with the limits obtained in three other nearby galaxies and is compatible with the escape fractions predicted by models .
The upper limits obtained in nearby galaxies contrasts with the detection of Lyman continuum flux in the composite spectrum of Lyman-break galaxies at z \approx 3.4 .
The difficulties and implications of a comparison are discussed .