Ultraluminous X-ray bursts in two ultracompact companions to nearby elliptical galaxies

A search of archival X-ray data for 70 nearby galaxies has yielded two flaring sources in globular clusters or ultracompact dwarf companions of parent elliptical galaxies. One source flared once, and the other five times. When not flaring, these sources appear to be normal accreting neutron-star or black-hole X-ray binaries. Unlike magnetars and other bodies that produce repetitive flares of similar luminosity, they are located in old stellar populations