  Lightning in the solar nebula is considered to be one of the probable sources
for producing the chondrules that are found in meteorites. Gamma-ray bursts
(GRBs) provide a large flux of gamma-rays that Compton scatter and create a
charge separation in the gas because the electrons are displaced from the
positive ions. The electric field easily exceeds the breakdown value of ~1 V
m^-1 over distances of order 0.1 AU. The energy in a giant lightning discharge
exceeds a terrestrial lightning flash by a factor of ~10^12. The predicted
post-burst emission of gamma-rays from accretion into the newly formed black
hole or spin-down of the magnetar is sufficiently intense to cause a lightning
storm in the nebula that lasts for days and is more probable than the GRB
because the radiation is beamed into a larger solid angle. The giant outbursts
from nearby soft gamma-ray repeater sources (SGRs) are also capable of causing
giant lightning discharges. The total amount of chondrules produced is in
reasonable agreement with the observations of meteorites. Furthermore in the
case of GRBs most chondrules were produced in a few major melting events by
nearby GRBs and lightning occurred at effectively the same time over the whole
nebula, and provide accurate time markers to the formation of chondrules and
evolution of the solar nebula. This model provides a reasonable explanation for
the delay between the formation of calcium aluminium inclusions (CAIs) and
chondrules.
