Can a meteorite have holes or bubbles?
Most do not. Bubbles and holes usually indicate slag or volcanic rock, though a few rare meteorites contain vesicles or holes where troilite has weathered out.
Gas bubbles, called vesicles, form when gas escapes from molten rock as it cools near a surface, as in volcanic rock such as pumice and scoria, or in industrial slag. Most meteorites did not form this way and have no bubbles, so holes are a strong warning sign.
Common bubbly meteorwrongs. - Slag, waste from smelting and industry, often bubbly, glassy, heavy and magnetic. - Volcanic rocks, such as scoria and vesicular basalt. - Clinker from burnt coal.
Meteorites with holes. - Some iron meteorites have holes where troilite nodules have weathered out, leaving rounded pits. Sikhote-Alin and some other irons have deep pits from regmaglypts or from fragmentation. - A few achondrites, such as some angrites and eucrites, contain small vesicles from gas in their lava on the parent body. - Some meteorites have pits in their fusion crust, or tiny vesicles within the crust itself, formed during atmospheric heating. - Weathered chondrites may have small pits where metal grains have rusted away.
How to tell. Bubbles in slag tend to be round, numerous and spread throughout the material, with shiny or glassy linings. In meteorites, holes are usually few, irregular or concentrated in specific features.
If your rock is full of round bubbles throughout, it is very likely slag or volcanic rock. If it has only a few pits, look at other features, such as crust, metal flecks and magnetism, and consider asking an expert.