SIZES OF LYα-EMITTING GALAXIES AND THEIR REST-FRAME ULTRAVIOLET COMPONENTS AT z=3.1

We present a rest-frame ultraviolet analysis of similar to 120 z similar to 3.1 Lyman Alpha Emitters (LAEs) in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South. Using Hubble Space Telescope ( HST) images taken as part of the Galaxy Evolution From Morphology and SEDS ( GEMS) survey, Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey ( GOODS), and Hubble Ultradeep Field surveys, we analyze the sizes of LAEs, as well as the spatial distribution of their components, which are defined as distinct clumps of UV-continuum emission. We set an upper limit of similar to 1 kpc (similar to 0.'' 1) on the rms offset between the centroids of the continuum and Lya emission. The SFRs of LAE components inferred from the rest-frame ultraviolet continuum range from similar to 0.1 M-circle dot yr(-1) to similar to 5 M-circle dot yr(-1). A subsample of LAEs with coverage in multiple surveys ( at different imaging depths) suggests that one needs a signal-to-noise ratio, S/N greater than or similar to 30, in order to make a robust estimate of the half-light radius of an LAE system. The majority of LAEs have observed half-light radii less than or similar to 2 kpc, and LAE components typically have observed half-light radii less than or similar to 1.5 kpc (similar to 0.'' 20). Although only similar to 50% of the detected LAE components are resolved at GOODS depth, the brightest (V less than or similar to 26.3) are all resolved in both GOODS and GEMS. Since we find little evidence for a correlation between the rest-UV sizes and magnitudes of LAEs, the majority should be resolved in a deeper survey at the similar to 0.'' 05 angular resolution of the HST. Most of the multi-component LAEs identified in shallow frames become connected in deeper images, suggesting that the majority of the rest-UV clumps are individual star-forming regions within a single system.